There are countless anecdotes, stories and legends about wine. Even in ancient writings and religious works, wine is a very popular and central theme. A good example is the Bible, which contains countless quotations about and in connection with wine. One of the most beautiful is that in Psalm 104/15: "Wine gladdens the heart of man. Wine and love are a wonderful combination and quite a few people probably owe their existence to a few glasses of wine. The vernacular expresses it aptly: Where Bacchus lights the fire, Mrs. Venus sits by the stove. There are anecdotes and quotations about wine from many famous people. A true declaration of love for champagne comes from Madame Lily Bollinger (1899-1977), the famous head of the Champagne House. Probably one of the most beautiful anecdotes comes from the French statesman Prince Charles Maurice Talleyrand-Périgord (1754-1838).
Wine & wine enjoyment in poetry
There is no topic (except love) about which there are more poems and songs than about wine. In the Bremen Ratskeller, whose wine list is one of the most extensive in the world, the rhyme is written: Poetry is also the enjoyment of wine, only that the verses flow inwards.
Cycle of the wine
One of the most beautiful songs is "Kreislauf des Weines". The text is by Theobald Kerner (1817-1907), the son of the famous German doctor and poet Justinus Kerner (1786-1862), after whom a grape variety is named. It was set to music by Kurt Lissmann (1902-1983):
From the grape into the barrel, from the barrel into the barrel,
From the barrel then oh bliss, into the bottle and into the glass
From the glass into the throat, into the stomach through the throat,
And as spirit then into the soul, and as word then into the mouth,
From the words a little later, an inspiring song is formed,
That through clouds into the ether, with mankind cheers,
And the next spring again, the songs fall fine,
Wet as dew on vines, and it becomes wine again.
Anacreontic imperative
Anacreontik is named after the Greek poet Anakreon (~580-495 B.C.), a style of poetry that deals with the joy of life, which also includes the enjoyment of wine. The Swiss writer Fridolin Tschudi (1912-1966) wrote the rhyme "Anacreontic imperative" on the subject:
Sipping a wine with brains, being glad to live,
Kiss a pretty maiden, Never have to duck slavishly,
Maintain friendship with friends, move normally if possible,
Envy no one's success, become grateful and humble,
But being clear with himself, Still keeping his pride,
Develop your talents freely, be critical and stay awake,
To fight against the aging, to muffle His own voice,
Let the enemies also be accepted, Neither hate themselves nor others,
Never get angry or argue over trifles, blue,
Or become hypochondriacal, And jeopardize his happiness by doing so,
But to drink his wine in silence, And, while we may,
Kissing the aforementioned maiden. That's all we're supposed to do,
Respect should, or rather must be able to.
The Treasure Diggers
The German poet Gottfried August Bürger (1747-1797) became famous above all through "Adventures of Baron von Münchhausen" and also his ballads. He wrote the poem "Die Schatzgräber" (The Treasure Diggers), which is about the arduous work Im Weinberg (In the Vineyard), but it is worth it:
A winegrower, laughing at death, called his children to us
"There is treasure in our vineyard, just dig for it!" "in what place?"
everything screamed at the father. "Dig!" Oh, dear! Then the man died
No sooner had the old man been brought in than they dug for it with their own hands
With hoe, karst and spade the vineyard was gathered around and around
There was no castle that remained calm; the earth was even thrown through a sieve
...and he drew the rakes back and forth, back and forth for every stone
Alone, there was no treasure to be found, and everyone was led
But hardly appeared the next year, so one took with astonishment was,
that each vine bore three times. Only then did the sons get wise
and now, year in, year out, we've dug up more and more of the treasure.
Weather & Viticulture
Probably no other branch of agriculture is as dependent on or affected by the rigours of the weather as viticulture. During the vegetation cycle, the vines are repeatedly affected by rain, hail and frost, as well as numerous vine enemies (pests and diseases). In Austria there is a verse for this, which is carved into countless barrel bottoms and aptly expresses the winegrower's suffering and worries: In winter a Gfrier (frost), in spring koa Blia (no blossom), in summer a Dia (drought) and in autumn koa G'schia (no crockery). After all imaginable bad things have happened, there is surprisingly a rich harvest in autumn, but new adversity: the dishes (containers) for harvesting are missing. Conclusion: the winegrower always complains. There are a myriad of farm rules (winegrower's rules) with the attempt to predict the weather. These are often related to commemoration days of wine saints, which are supposed to protect the winegrower and the vineyard from disaster by phone calls. But all this is not scientifically justifiable or can be assigned to the field of esotericism.
Alcohol as inspiration
The history of literature, music and painting is full of alcoholic to more or less alcoholic people who drew inspiration, stimulant and strength for their works from the spirit of the bottle. Among them were Ludwig van Beethoven, Charles Bukowski, Lord Byron, Adalbert von Chamisso, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Gerhart Hauptmann, Friedrich Hebbel, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Joseph Haydn, Jean Paul, Joseph Roth, Franz Schubert, Theodor Storm and Ludwig Uhland. The US psychiatrist Donald W. Goodwin noted that nowhere is the percentage of alcoholics as high as among American Nobel Prize winners in literature. He cites Sinclair Lewis, Eugene O'Neill, William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway and John Steinbeck as examples.
Some writers made their alcohol addiction a literary theme, such as Hans Fallada with the strongly self-biographical novel "The Drinker" and Jack London with "King Alcohol". The US author Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) is regarded as the founder of crime novels. In his thrilling, sinister detective stories, he cleverly builds up the plot structure and leads it to its climax. While writing, he regularly drank alcohol and, during interruptions, drew inspiration from it again to find his way back into the fantastic world of thought of his stories and to continue the plot thread. For more than 70 years, the mysterious "Poe Toaster" commemorated him at his grave with a glass of cognac.
But this is not to say that alcohol consumption, so to speak, gives everyone the ability to be artistically active or causes special talents and abilities that would not exist without alcohol (in the sense that you drink a few glasses of wine and you are a Friedrich von Schiller). The German writer and poet Ludwig Tieck (1773-1853) describes this as follows: It is a platitudinous view to believe that wine produces directly, in itself, all the effects that we attribute to it; no, its scent and breath only awakens qualities that rest within us. The Austrian writer Peter Rosegger (1843-1918) described this in a similar way and made a declaration of love for wine. An extensive list of celebrities with their preferences can be found under Favourite Wines.
Quotations from Abraham a Sancta Clara to Carl Zuckmayer
Most citations also paint a positive picture of wine and alcohol consumption. However, there are some that warn against abuse, the most vivid of these is that of the Greek politician Eubulos. However, some of them could well be misunderstood, hence the warning: alcohol is an excellent solvent. It dissolves families, marriages, friendships, work relationships, bank accounts, liver and brain cells. It just does not solve problems.
The saying on an ancient gravestone in Rome aptly describes the interaction of different pleasures. These embellish life, but can also ruin it (in excess): Balnea, vina, Venus corrumpunt corpora nostra; sed vitam faciunt: balnea, vina, Venus (The baths, the wines, the love: they ruin our body; but they make up life: The baths, the wines, the love).
Unknown source
- Where Bacchus stokes the fire, Mrs Venus sits at the stove.
- Without Ceres and Bacchus, Venus freezes.
- Wine is the marriage of heaven and earth.
- Wine is the good spirit of conviviality. It awakens the spirit of life,
makes the worried optimistic, the grumpy cheerful,
accessible to the rich and talkative to the introverted.
- The drunk says what the sober man thinks.
- More people drown in a cup than in a stream.
- Wave the wine in the cup, take it and drink fresh,
but don't sit down at a table with every boozer.
- Those who have never been drunk do not know the value of sobriety (China).
- First the person drinks sake, then the sake drinks sake,
and finally the sake drinks the man (Japan).
- Rain makes the grass grow, wine the conversation (Sweden).
- When wine is in, wit is out
When wine is drunk, the mind is switched off (England).
- Vinum et mulieres apostatare faciunt sapientes
(wine and women bewitch the wise).
Abraham a Sancta Clara (1644-1709)
Famous preacher in old Vienna and writer, author of the Sauffnarren: The wine is a medicine, but if it is drunk without a manner, it is a poison. Wine is a refreshment of the heart, but if drunk without a manner, it is a death of the soul.
Alcaeus (600 B.C.)
Greek poet from the Aegean island of Lesbos with probably the best known and most quoted saying about wine In vino veritas (In wine lies the truth).
Archilochos of Palos (700-645 BC)
Greek poet, about the effect of wine during long sea voyages: "The cups reach through the rowing benches, open all the jugs for the drinkers, how could we be sober with so much wine, all night long?
Aristophanes (445-385 BC)
Greek comedy poet: How dare you defame the inventive power of wine? What would you find more inspiring than wine?
Aristotle (384-322 BC)
Greek philosopher, about the positive inspiration of artists through wine enjoyment: "He who is without wine knocks in vain at the door of the Muses.
Augustine (354-430)
Most important Christian church teacher and philosopher: Spiritus non potset habitare in sicco (The spirit cannot dwell in the dry).
Charles-Pierre Baudelaire (1821-1867)
French poet and lyricist (Intimate Diaries, The Flowers of Evil, The Artificial Paradises): Wine is like man, you will never really know to what extent you can appreciate or despise it, love it or hate it. Likewise, one will never know how many excellent actions or monstrous misdeeds it is capable of. So let us not be more cruel to him than to ourselves and treat him as our own. And a second quote: He who drinks only water has a secret to hide.
Benedict (480-542)
The founder of the Benedictines gave - besides "Ora et labora" - as a rule of the order: We don't like to decide how much others should eat or drink. Nevertheless, taking into account weaker brothers, we believe that one hemina (about 0.27 l) per day is sufficient. But those to whom God has given the gift of abstinence may know that their special reward awaits.
Benedict XIV (1675-1758)
The Pope after the enjoyment of Hungarian Tokaj, which Maria Theresa had sent him as a gift: Benedikta sit terra, quae te germinavit; Benedicta mulier, qui te misit; Benedictus ego, qui te bibi (Blessed is the land that brought you; Blessed is the woman who sent you; Blessed is I who drink you).
Ambros Bierce (1842-1914)
US-American writer and journalist, who with his black-humorous and cynical prose is considered a master of the sinister short story alongside Edgar Allan Poe: A teetotaller is a character-weak person who succumbs to the temptation to deny himself a pleasure.
Rudolf G. Binding (1867-1938)
German staff officer and writer (Moselfahrt aus Liebeskummer): Wine is thinking and doing, wine is growth and prosperity, wine is people's care and enjoyment. Wine is question and answer.
Giovanni Boccacio (1313-1375)
Italian writer, democrat and poet (Decamerone) on wine enjoyment: It is better to regret comrades than to regret that one has enjoyed nothing.
Lily Bollinger (1899-1977)
Legendary boss of the Champagne House: I drink it when I am happy, and I drink it when I am sad. Sometimes I drink it when I am alone; in company I drink it anyway. Even when I have no appetite, I like to have a glass. And if I have an appetite, of course I take it. But otherwise I don't touch it, except when I'm thirsty.
Ludwig Börne (1786-1837)
German journalist, feature writer, literary and theater critic: You are only master of denying yourself the first cup, not the second.
Jean Anthèlme Brillat-Savarin (1755-1826)
French gastrosopher, philosopher and writer (physiology of taste - higher table pleasure): With Bordeaux one considers, with Burgundy one discusses, with Champagne one commits follies.
Wilhelm Busch (1832-1908)
German poet and draughtsman (Max and Moritz): Who, as a hater of wine and women, stands in the way of everyone, eat bread and drink water until they perish.
Red wine is one of the best gifts for old boys.
Charles Bukowski (1920-1994)
American poet and writer: Life is an illusion, caused by lack of alcohol.
Raymond Chandler (1888-1959)
In his novel "The high Window" the private detective Philip Marlowe orders a martini cocktail in a bar: A Martini. Dry. Very, very, very dry. The bartender: OK. Do you want to eat it with a spoon or with a knife and fork? Philip Marlowe: Cut it into strips. I just want to nibble on it.
Jules Chauvet (1907-1989)
French private scholar who, with this quotation, advocated non-invasive winemaking: Le vin, moins on le touche, mieux ça vaut (The less you touch the wine, the better it becomes).
Julia Child (1912-2004)
US-American cook and cookbook author: Wine is a living liquid. Its life cycle includes youth, maturity, age and death. If it is not treated with sufficient respect, it falls ill and dies.
Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
British Prime Minister, on the "recipe" for a martini cocktail, in which he advocates the "most economical" use of wormwood in the preparation of this classic drink (the phrase is also attributed to US actor Humphrey Bogart, among others): The driest martini is a bottle of good gin that once stood beside a bottle of vermouth.
Sir, if you were my husband, I would poison your drink. - Madam, if you were my wife, I would drink it (Winston Churchill to his daughter-in-law Lady Astor).
Paul Claudel (1868-1955)
French writer and diplomat, member of the Académie Française (Annunciation, The Silk Shoe): Wine is the teacher of good taste. And since it educates to an inner attention, it is the liberator of the spirit and the enlightener of the mind. And finally, wine is the symbol and means of social fraternity. Between the guests, the table becomes a platform of community, and the cup that makes the round fills us with indulgence and sympathy for our neighbour.
Salvador Dali (1904-1989)
Spanish painter and sculptor: Those who can enjoy, don't drink wine anymore, but taste secrets
Alighieri Dante (1265-1321)
Italian poet and philosopher (Banquet, Divine Comedy): From the very beginning of creation, wine has been given a force to illuminate the shadowy path to truth.
Joseph Karl Benedict Baron von Eichendorff (1788-1857)
German poet and writer: Much food makes much wider and does not help to heaven. The sky's the limit, when such a heavy gnome comes. Drinking is smarter, it tastes like an idea. You don't need a ladder, it goes straight up into the sky!
Elizabeth (1709-1762)
The Russian tsarina ordered in a letter a delivery of 375 barrels of Tokaj and added as postscriptum: "Send with messengers at least three Antal (barrels of about 75 liters), which I cannot get anywhere here, since I cannot be without the wine, as you also know.
Epictetus (60-140)
Greek philosopher (Stoic): The vine bears three grapes: the first brings sensual pleasure, the second intoxication, the third crime.
Eubulos (405-335 BC)
Greek politician about the right measure: "I prepare three cups for the moderate ones: one for health, which is emptied first, the second for love and lust, the third for sleep. After this cup the wise guest goes home. The fourth cup is no longer ours, but belongs to pride; the fifth to rebellion, the sixth to drunken exuberance, the seventh to violence, the eighth to the law enforcement officer, the ninth to anger, and the tenth to rage and demolition of furniture
Euripides (480-406 B.C.) - Greek tragedian:
- Where wine is missing, the charm of Venus dies, the sky is desolate and joyless.
- If it were not for the wine, all love and joy would have to disappear from the human world
- Anyone who doesn't enjoy drinking is a fool.
Falstaff
The literary figure in Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part Two IV, 3: Nor can any man make him laugh. But this is no wonder: he doesn't drink wine.
W. C. Fields (1880-1946)
US actor, comedian and juggler after a frenzy: I feel as if a dwarf with dirty feet had been walking on my tongue all night.
Johann Baptist fish species - "Mentzer" (1546-1591)
German writer, master of puns (historical misrepresentation): The dearest paramour I have is lying in the cellar of the landlord. He wears a wooden skirt and is called the Muscat.
Alexander Fleming (1881-1955)
British bacteriologist, discoverer of penicillin: Penicillin makes people healthy, but good wine (in moderation) makes them happy.
Theodor Fontane (1819-1898)
German journalist and writer (Der Stechlin, Effi Briest): If you have the choice between oysters and champagne, you usually choose both.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
US-American statesman, natural scientist, writer and inventor
- When the Wine enters, out goes the Truth
(When the wine comes in, the truth/honesty goes out)
- Wine is the proof that God loves us.
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)
Italian natural scientist and astronomer (And yet it moves): Wine is light bound by water.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)
German poet prince and great wine lover with countless sayings and rhymes:
- A girl and a glass of wine will ease any distress,
and those who don't kiss and those who don't drink are long dead
- Without wine and without women, the devil take our bodies
- The human being learns to drink first, much later he learns to eat,
so out of gratitude, he should not forget to drink.
- Because my opinion is not exaggerated, if one cannot drink, one should not love.
- Drunk we all must be. Youth is drunkenness without wine, old age drinks itself back to youth, so it is wonderful virtue. Life provides for sorrows and the vines are the breakers of sorrows.
Hippolytus Guarinoni (1571-1654)
Tyrolean city doctor: There is no potion among all that agrees (matches) better with our blood and our natural food than red wine, and the same is transformed into our blood.
Hafis (1324-1390)
Most famous Persian poet (real name Mohammed Schams ed-Din): The time of youth still lasts, the best is only wine. The best for the afflicted is to be desolate and drunk. The world is desolate from top to bottom. Desolation is the best thing in a desert country.
Wilhelm Knight of Hamm (1820-1880)
German businessman and politician: white wine stimulates the imagination in the morning, the senses are sharpened in their receptiveness, impressions are perceived quickly and clearly, the voice becomes fuller and stronger, tiredness disappears. This creates a feeling of well-being and pleasure, of increased strength and newly hardened courage.
Hammurabi (1728-1686 BC)
King of Babylon, creator of the first wine law: Wine is one of the most precious gifts on earth. So he demands love and respect, we have to show him respect.
Wilhelm Hauff (1802-1827)
German writer of the Romantic period; fairy tales and legends (Kalif Storch, Dwarf Nose): I think this dynasty feels that it is no longer worthy of a noble wine.
Johann Peter Hebel (1760-1826)
German dialect poet from the Markgräfler-Land (Alemannic poems): One may lack much of things and not desire this or that, but there will be few men who hate women and wine.
Friedrich Hebbel (1813-1863)
German writer (Herod and Mariamne): Wine is the noblest embodiment of the spirit of nature.
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831)
German philosopher of idealism: In the wine lies truth; and with that truth you can strike everywhere.
Heinrich Heine (1997-1856)
German writer, journalist and poet: I know: they secretly drink wine and preach water in public.
Henri d'Andeli (13th century)
Norman minstrel in his poem "La bataille des vins" (The battle of the wines): By drinking good wine all illnesses could be avoided until the day of death.
Hermann Hesse (1877-1962)
German writer (Siddharta, Der Steppenwolf): He made me hermit and farmer king, poet and sage. Such is wine! But it is with him as with all delicious gifts and arts. It wants to be loved, sought, understood and won with difficulty.
Theodor Heuss (1884-1963)
German Federal President (has repeatedly used the quotation in abbreviated form, but it comes from an unknown source): Who drinks wine sins - who drinks wine works - who enjoys wine prays.
Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179)
Famous alternative practitioner and Benedictine abbess: Wine, enjoyed in moderation, heals and delights people deeply through its great power and warmth. A second saying: Wine is blood of the earth.
Hoffmann von Fallersleben (1798-1874)
German university lecturer and poet, author of the Deutschlandlied: Stay forever, silent world, lost in sobriety, I have drunk myself into the starry sky, even boldly up.
Homer (8th century BC)
Greek poet, quote from his work "Iliad": "Wine renews the strength of tired men.
Horace (65-8 AD)
Roman poet who wrote the famous epicurean motto "Carpe diem!" ("Enjoy/use the day" or freely translated "Use the time!") This is taken from the four-volume work "Carmina" (greatly abbreviated): Live with understanding, clarify the wine and limit distant hope to a short duration! Enjoy the day, as little gullibility as possible towards the following!
Ibn al-Faqih (10th century)
Persian historian (Book of Lands): The drink of the vine is the best drink. It is a remedy without harm. With its fragrance and healthy nature it is above all medicines in the defence against evil.
Jesus Sirach (around 200 BC)
Jewish sage in the Jewish book of the same name (Ecclesiasticus) in the Old Testament: "Do not be a wine drinker, for wine kills many people. Wine gives life to man, if he drinks it in moderation. And what is life when there is no wine? Wine is created to make people happy. But if one drinks too much, it brings heartache. Drunkenness makes a great fool even greater.
Nicolas Joly
French star winemaker and owner of the Château de la Roche-aux-Moines: Like music, the quality of a wine consists of three components. First the instrument, the vineyard. Then the musician, the winemaker. And finally the acoustics in viticulture, the resonance - the connection with the archetypal forces of vine and vineyard. In Biodynamic viticulture this resonance is amplified immensely.
Omar Khayyam (11th century)
Persian poet and astronomer: "Every day I intend to stop drinking and repent; but since the fragrance of roses has appeared, the fair Lenz - I repent. A second verse: The good see only noble virtue in wine. The bad see only crime, deceit and craftiness. Wine is the mirror of our colourful life. One sees in wine what one is oneself.
Nicholas Lenau (1802-1850)
The Austrian poet paid homage to the Hungarian Tokaj in the poem "Mischka on the Tisza" as follows: Up the bottle in the left, Up the sabre in the right, And down the riders' throats, Sweet fire flows in the dance, The glorious Tokay flows.
Gottholm Ephraim Lessing (1729-1781)
German writer of the Enlightenment (Minna von Barnhelm, Nathan the Wise): Whether I will live tomorrow, I certainly do not know. But if I live tomorrow, that I will drink then, I know for sure.
From the poem "The Eloquence": Friends, water makes mute: Learn this from the fish. But with wine, it's the other way around: Learn this from our tables. What orators we are not, when the Rhine wine speaks from us. We exhort, we argue, we teach. No man will hear another.
Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742-1799)
German mathematician, experimental physicist and writer: only the evil deeds to which wine tempts are cited against it, but it also tempts to a hundred good ones, which are not so well-known. Wine tempts to effectiveness, the good in the good, the bad in the bad.
Martin Luther (1483-1546)
German religious reformer and Bible translator. The first one is probably the best known, but it is not certain whether he really comes from Luther:
- He that loveth not wine, woman, and song, shall be a fool all his days.
- He who does not love wine, woman and song saves a lot of money all his life.
- Beer is the work of men, but wine is from God.
- Among all fruits, wine is the most noble in the whole world,
that refreshes and delights the human heart.
Moses Maimonides (1135-1204)
Jewish philosopher, doctor and jurist (most important Jewish scholar of the Middle Ages): The older a person is in years, the more useful wine is to him. Of all people, it is the elderly who need it most.
Dean Martin (1917-1995)
US-American actor and entertainer: You are not drunk as long as you can still lie on the floor without having to hold on.
Mephistopheles
The Prince of Darkness (Devil) to Dr. Faust in Goethe's Faust I, The Witches' Kitchen: You see with this potion in your body, soon Helenen in every woman.
Molière - Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (1622-1673)
French actor, theatre director and playwright (The Imaginary Sick): A book, a friend and a bottle of wine will give you bliss.
Wilhelm Müller (1794-1827)
German poet, his face "the beautiful miller" was set to music by Franz Schubert. His poem "Noah's Ark" begins as follows: It's the food, not the drink, that brings us to paradise. Adam must continue to limp because of his apple bite. The wine gives everyone the aftertaste of Eden.
Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821)
French Emperor, about the enjoyment of champagne: After victory you deserve it, after defeat you need it.
Ovid (43 BC to 8 AD)
Roman poet, about the aphrodisiac effect of wine: "When you lie blissfully at the side of the beautiful ones, while enjoying a happy feast, pray to the gods that the wine does not confuse your senses. Mighty drunkenness disturbs, it harms and disgusts. But a little tipsy, even more so than drunk, helps you to play.
Kostis Papajorgis (*1940)
Greek philosopher, author of "The Intoxication - A Philosophical Aperitif": A person drinks in order to become in a higher degree what he already is.
Dorothy Parker (1893-1967)
US writer, about the amount of martini cocktails you could drink: I like to have a martini, two at the very most. After three I'm under the table, after four I'm under my host! (I like to have martinis, but two are served enough, because after three I'm under the table, after four I'm under my host).
Louis Pasteur (1822-1895)
French chemist: Wine can rightly be called the healthiest and most hygienic drink. A second statement: A meal without wine is like a day without sunshine.
Plutarch (45-125)
Greek philosopher: Wine is the most useful among drinks, the tastiest among medicines, the most pleasant among food.
Life is far too short to drink bad wine.
Madame Pompadour (1721-1764)
Mistress of Louis XV (1710-1774): Champagne is the only drink that makes women more beautiful the more they drink it.
François Rabelais (1494-1553)
French writer (5-volume novel cycle Gargantua and Pantagruel): So have fun, my dears, and let it be good for your stomach and loins. But don't forget to drink either, you donkey faces, otherwise the plague will plague you.
Johann Rasch (1540-1612)
A clergyman in Vienna and author of the historical wine book: That God has no care for man's body, the wine, that he drives away his worries, makes the heart refreshed and happy, that is the reason for all this.
Keith Richards (1943)
English musician and songwriter, guitarist for the Rolling Stones: The best parties are the ones you don't remember. Everything else is no good.
Armand Jean du Plessis Richelieu (1585-1642)
French cardinal and statesman: He who does not drink wine, misses a lot of pleasure, but he who drinks the wrong wine, spoils himself and others the pleasure.
If God had forbidden to drink wine, would He have made the wine grow so gloriously?
Joachim Ringelnatz (1883-1934) - German poet and storyteller:
- The best magnifying glasses for the pleasures of this world are those from which you drink.
- Being a Saint Bernard is the last thing I want to be
Always keep the bottle around your neck and never drink!
Peter Rosegger (1843-1918)
Austrian writer, wrote a declaration of love for wine (see there).
George Saintsbury (1845-1933)
English scholar, literary historian and author of the famous "Notes of a Cellarbook": A good wine delights my senses, makes my mood rejoice and improves my moral and intellectual powers.
Friedrich von Schiller (1759-1805)
German poet and playwright: On the mountains free heights, In the midday sun shine, On the warm ray forces, Nature witnesses the golden wine. And no one has yet explored how the great mother creates: Unfathomable is the work, inscrutable is the power.
Seneca (4 B.C.-65 AD)
Roman politician and poet: As in freedom, moderation is also beneficial in wine.
William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
In his drama Macbeth, the English playwright describes the problem of too much alcohol in connection with sex: the drink is a great carrier of three things - red noses, sleep and urine. It both promotes and dampens boasting: it promotes desire and weakens action.
George Bernhard Shaw (1856-1950)
Irish writer: This is the only way to enjoy wine - when a few knowledgeable and enthusiastic friends come together and feel free to indulge in undisguised delight.
Alcohol is the anaesthetic with which we survive the operation Life.
Socrates (469-399 BC)
Greek philosopher: Wine moistens and temperaments the mind and lulls the cares of the mind to sleep. It enlivens our joys and is oil on the dying flame of life. When we drink in moderation and in small doses, the wine passes into our lungs like the sweetest morning dew. Then the wine does not rob our reason, but invites us to friendly cheerfulness
Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894)
Scottish writer (Treasure Island, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde). By the way, the quote is contained on a big sign on a driveway leading to Napa Valley: Wine is poetry in bottles
Theodor Storm (1817-1888)
German poet from his poem "Oktoberlied": The fog rises, the leaves fall; pour in the wine, the good wine! Let us gild the grey day - gild, yes, gild!
André Tchelistcheff (1901-1994)
Russian oenologist, at a tasting in 1971 in San Francisco: "To enjoy an old wine is like physically loving an old lady. It's possible; it can even give pleasure, but it requires a little bit of imagination.
Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910)
Russian writer during a conversation with his professional colleague Maxim Gorky (1868-1936): I don't like drunk people, but I know people who become interesting when they have drunk one, who then shine with wit, beauty of thought, agility and richness of language. ...all the things they miss when they're sober. That's why I'm ready to praise the wine
Trimalchio
Main character from Satyricon of Petronius: Vita vinum est (wine is life).
Kurt Tucholsky (1890-1935)
German writer (Schloss Gripsholm, Deutschland Deutschland über alles): The most beautiful thing about a frenzy is the moment it begins and the memory of it. Tucholsky especially loved the wines from the Franconian wine region, about the wines from the famous Bürgerspital winery he said: "We shouldn't have drunk so much stone wine. But that is difficult: something of purity, of clear power, of collected sun and sun-soaked earth was not yet there. And that was only the open one in glasses - how will it be when the pressed bottles of the Bocksbeutel are put on the table.
Mark Twain (1835-1910)
US-American writer (Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn): Champagne is probably the happiest source of inspiration.
Urban VIII. (1568-1644)
The Pope about the Italian mathematician, physicist and astronomer Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) in Bertolt Brecht's "The Life of Galileo": He knows more pleasures than any man I have ever met. He thinks out of sensuality. He could not say no to an old wine and a new thought.
Victoria (1819-1901)
English queen who loved the Riesling from Hochheim (Rheingau): Good Hoc keeps off the Doc.
Henri Vidal (1919-2000)
French film and stage actors: With white wine you think, with red wine you talk, with sparkling wine you do stupid things.
Voltaire - François-Marie Arouet (1694 -1778)
French philosopher and writer: Wine is the nightingale among beverages.
David Raines Wallace (1945)
US writer on nature conservation and natural history (The Monkey's Bridge): Fermentation was perhaps a greater discovery than fire.
Orson Welles (1915-1985)
US-American actor: There are three things in life that are unbearable: cold coffee, lukewarm champagne and an overstimulated woman.
Oswald Selva (1377-1445)
Singer, poet and diplomat, about a wine from Lake Constance: The wine is sweet like sloe potion, which makes the throat rough and sick, that confuses my bright singing, often after Tramin stands my thought.
Cistercians
Election slogan of the order that has had a decisive influence on European viticulture: Qui bon vin boit, Dieu voit (If you pour good wine, you see God in wine).
Carl Zuckmayer (1896-1977)
German writer; see under his comedy Der fröhliche Weinberg.
See also under the related keywords: farming rules, viticultural customs and toasts.
opened book: by Myriam Zilles on Pixabay
In vino veritas: by Norbert F. J. Tischelmayer