Rant: Wine Is Just Fermented Grape Juice?

Wine is just fermented grape juice. As such, it has little real importance. Or at least that is what some people claim. These people want to dismiss wine as a mere luxury, thinking it has little reason to exist beyond its alcoholic content.

Let's dismiss their ignorance.

They fail to understand how wine can create connections between people, how it can bring people together, leading to friendships and more. The formation of those connections is significant, cementing relationships that can last our entire lives.

Last week, I attended a Franciacorta wine tasting with a number of my wine-loving friends. Nearly all of those people became my friends through wine. Without that connection through wine, I might never have met these people, which would have been a terrible shame. Though these friendships began with a shared passion for wine, they have developed into deeper relationships, extending beyond just wine. Wine was but the entry way for our friendships which have grown over time into something more complex.

The power of fermented grape juice.

In addition, I met new people at this tasting, other wine lovers who could become closer friends in time. Our shared love of wine became a foundation for friendship, common ground which started conversations which eventually led beyond just the realm of wine. And I probably never would have met some of these people except for the wine. For example, I got to meet Jeremy Parzen, an Italian wine expert, writer and excellent person. Without the connection of wine, our paths may never have crossed.

A person can sit home alone and drink a bottle of wine. That person might enjoy the wine but if that person shared that same bottle with others, it would likely elevate the experience. I've often said, and many others agree, that shared wine tastes much better than wine drank alone. It becomes a mutual experience, providing "oil" to lubricate conversation. It is a means of bringing people together in pleasure, spreading happiness. Even if you don't know those you are drinking with, you have common ground through the wine to get to know them better.

Life is about connections, about the people in our lives. It is those people who share our joys and sorrows, who help us in times of need. Our lives are so much richer due to the good people who are connected to us. And if wine can lead to friendships and connections, then it is an important element which is worthy of our praise. Wine might be fermented grape juice but that fails to properly encompass its greater role.

Don't underestimate the potential of wine.