WINE IS OLDER THAN HISTORY.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18045, 4 January 1927, Page 3

WINE IS OLDER THAN HISTORY.

NO SIX BOTTLE MEN THESE TEMPERATE DAYS. “Bring wine! Bring wine!" This clamouring cry, in the jargon of the conquering barbarian, in sonorous Greek and Roman, and blunt AngloSaxon, has been the first to be raised whenever men have met to celebrate a victory or a festival ever since the dawn of history, And apparently long before that. For the grape A-ine is one of the most universal plants, and has been grown in nearly every country in the world. It is also one of the oldest, as impressions of its leaves haA-e been found in rocks of Aery* ancient formation. The cave man probably enjoyed wine on special occasions, for the genesis of wine is lost in the mists of antiquity. Noah, in addition to having the credit of building the Ark, also enjoys the record of being the first A’igneron to have his name put on record as such. G. K. Chesterton immortalised him further when he wrote: “ Old Noah he had an ostrich farm and fowls on the largest scale. He ate his egg with a ladle in an egg cup big as a pale, And the soup he took was elephant soup, and the fish he took was whale. But they all were small to the cellar he took when set out to sail. And Noah he often said to his wife when he sat down to dine, ‘ I don’t care where the water goes if it doesn’t get into the wine.’ ” Noah evidently' knew a thing or two worth knowing about wine, and it is to be regretted that he sometimes lo\-ed it not wisely but too well. From the historical standpoint it is interesting to note that the earliest discoA’ered code of laws, that of Hammurabi, which was formulated about 2250 8.C.. contains a clause demanding the punishment of death on any wine, merchant who shall allow riotous behaviour in his house. The modern liquor latf’S are considered fairly* drastic, but only the most fanatical prohibitionist Avould advocate such a clause to-day. Although the Chinese claim to haA’e iirst discovered Avine, there are a number of romantic legends in regard to its origin. One of the most picturesque is to be found in the early Persian writings, which tell how Jemsheed, being very fond of grapes, had stored up for himself a number of jars of grape juice. After a time he wanted a drink, and on going to the store found that his juice had turned bad—fermentation had set in. He would have his drink, however, and in consequence suffered a severe stomach-ache. This result suggested that the liquor had become dangerous, and he caused the jars to be labelled “ poison.” A short time later one of his wives, in trouble of soul and weary of life because she had lost her lord’s faA*our, determined to put an end to her existence. She procured some of the “ poison,” but a long drink of it only transferred her sorrow to joy; and a still larger draught stupefied but did not kill her. What Avas more, it revived her beauty .to such an extent that she regained her place. She kept her secret, and in time exhausted the supply. One day Jemsheed found that his jars were empty'. The woman confessed, and described the effect of her drinking in such glowing terms that Jemsheed was induced to try the experiment again. So wine was discoA'ered. Since those far-off days a thousand lyric poets have sung the praises of wine, while innumerable writers, including Horace, Virgil and Homer, haA-c extolled its A'irtues when rightly used, particularly on -festiVe occasions. No such occasion, whatsoever its character, was considered complete tvithout A\'ine, especially a marriage feast. In his “Compleat Vintner,” Jonson wrote: “What priest can join two lo\’ers’ hands, But wine njust seal the marriage bands?” But many centuries before that wine Avas always associated Avith the celebration of marriage vows, as well as all other con\*iA’ial gatherings. And Avhat drinkers some of the ancients, and even our immediate predecessors, AA’ere! The Romans, on special occasions, used to drink a full glass of Avine for e\-ery letter in the. name of the person toasted—and some had A-ery long names in those days. Coming to more recent times, it is not so Aery* long ago that it was not considered bad form in England to drink yourself under the table of vour host, and have to be put to bed by the The great Pitt was a heaA'y drinker of port. “How is it,” it Avas once asked, “that Pitt is able to address the House after three bottles of port?” "You forget,” Avas the reply, “that most of those he is addressing have had as much.” Bismarck is said to haA-e boasted that he consumed 20,000 bottles of champagne between his twentieth and eightieth birthdays. He was also a great eater, and it is estimated that the food which he consumed, amounted to countless tons. That he was able to “carry” both food and Avine Avell is demonstrated by- the fact that both failed to shorten his life, or affect his remarkable brain. Goethe, the famous felloAv countryman of Bismarck, also declared, in his old age, that he had consumed some tens of thousands of bottles of wine during his lifetime—yet his mind did not seem impaired thereby*, and. like Bismarck, he was well over eighty when he died. Where are the six-bottle, or even the three-bottJe men to-day? They do not exist, for the world has become more and more temperate—with the exception, perhaps, of America ! Drunkenness has come to be regarded as a social offence, which, if persisted in, puts the offender beyond the pale. But that does not affect the proper use of Avine as an ordinary be\’erage, and on all special occasions. On the Continent, and in Great Britain, Avine. which has been the accompaniment of nearly all the finest social eA-ents in history', has celebrated every triumph and softened eA'ery defeat, is regarded as indispensable, not only at festivities, but for every'day use. On the Continent, they haA-e the Avisdom to make every dinner a festive occasion, be it private or public. And the British are apparently getting the habit, for the consumption of wine has nearly' doubled since thft Great War ended. Rum used to lx: the most popular drink in Australia, with brandy next, and, as traditions die hard, wine has not yet become the national beverage as it should be in such a climate; and, in view of the fact that Australian wines are among the finest in the world. But Avine is gradually assuming its proper place, and is used temperately at all public and pri\-ate dinners of any note. "What Avere revel without wine?” asks Stephen Phillips. Professor Stephen Leacock supplies an answer Avhen he declares that a “dry” meal changes after-dinner speeches int<7"after-dinner lectures. The banquet, he declares, was always stilted and formal and opposed to true sociability and cheer. But the magical philtres, the happy draughts of Avine, made it at least tolerable. But without the miraculous potions, Avithout, in short, the means of achieving the Avarin heart under the white shirt, “the thing is a stark and naked horror,” making only for ill-feeling and for the loss of any-

thing like the love we once held for our fellowmen. There is an interesting scientific explanation of why wine is essential to mankind. Who has not suffered at the hands of the nervous speaker, who becomes tongue-tied until a complete breakdown ends the agony? That, fortunately, seldom occurs at festive gatherings. And the reason is that wine infuses into the orator just the dash of recklessness he needs for the courage of his convictions. In other words, wine, by inhibiting the minor cerebral functions, prevents distracting thoughts obtruding upon the main cur rent of consciousness, thus forming n.r, centration. The speaker, then, unham pered by disturbing fears, appears a' his best. But wine does more than that. I. provides the very festivity of spirit it self. “Bacchus opens the gate of th< heart.” said Horace, but Professor Stalling. who fills the Chair of Physiology at University College, London, puts it a different way. Of the effect of wine upon a diner, he says that he has obtained not only greater enjoyment of his meals, resulting in increase of appetite and consequent improvement in the processes of digestion, but the greater enjoyment is due itself to the fact that this small dose has given him repose of spirit from the endless little worries of the day’s work. Under the influence of wine, past troubles cease to repeat themselves and' to reverberate in his mind. The worries of the day fall off like a garment, and he acquires a restful and contented ffame of mind, in which he takes a more sanguine view of the present and of the future, and leaves difficulties and dangers till the morrow, when he will be prepared to deal with them, refreshed and restored the night's,