Wine Civilisation

Civilisations of the vine - from Le Désir du Vin by Jean-Robert Pitte

Wine culture is a civilised and civilising pursuit. Which is why it is sad that circumstances should force a wine writer to flee his country (Leaving Lebanon. Thanks to Robert McIntosh @thirstforwine for featuring this story on Twitter).

We live, some would have us believe, under a thin veneer of civilisation, with barbarians and pestilence at the gate threatening to destroy everything in an instant, should we let down our guard.

This is not really as far-fetched as you might think. Riots and arson on the streets can break out overnight as Londoners are all too aware.

As someone who grew up in the Northern Ireland of the late 1960's and early 1970's I have seen civilisation almost destroyed, and normally reasonable mild-mannered adults embrace the cause of violence and destruction.

All very exciting for the young fellow I was at the time, all that manning of barricades and the like. But extremely frightening on those occasions when armoured vehicles fired outside your front door, or marauding house-burning hordes from the 'other side' were expected from one minute to the next.

Civilisation is not all that deep-rooted and a temporary lapse in electricity or water supply will soon remind us of this.

And if you are fighting for subsistence your thoughts will not turn immediately to the merits of one wine or grape variety or vintage over another.

Not that I am equating lack of wine with lack of civilisation. Some great civilisations have refused to embrace the grape for transformation into wine, although this has not always been the case.

Vines are found and will grow in only certain parts of the world. But a culture or a tradition of fine alcoholic drinks is in some ways a reflection of the refined and the civilised in human nature. One need only look back to Rome or ancient Persia, Japan or China to find evidence of this.

Wine and civilisation go hand in hand and contribute to something which can only be described as 'Wine Civilisation' and comes into being when enlightened producers and consumers come together.

It needs both (consumer and producer) to be enlightened, knowledgeable, appreciative. Great wines and great conviviality are the result. No great wine as far as I know was ever produced by a collective farm, any more than great works of art would emerge from a committee of artists.