He is life’s liberating

He is life’s liberating force. He is release of limbs and communion through dance. He is laughter, and music in flutes. He is repose from all cares — he is sleep! When his blood bursts from the grape and flows across tables laid in his honor to fuse with our blood, he gently, gradually, wraps … Read more

Mankind . . .

Mankind . . . possesses two supreme blessings. First of these is the goddess Demeter, or Earth whichever name you choose to call her by. It was she who gave to man his nourishment of grain. But after her there came the son of Semele, who matched her present by inventing liquid wine as his … Read more

Young man, two are

Young man, two are the forces most precious to mankind. The first is Demeter, the Goddess. She is the Earth — or any name you wish to call her — and she sustains humanity with solid food. Next came Dionysus, the son of the virgin, bringing the counterpart to bread: wine and the blessings of … Read more

Wine … offers a

Wine … offers a greater range for enjoyment and appreciation than possibly any other purely sensory thing which may be purchased. Ernest Hemingway

No greater thing is

No greater thing is created suddenly, any more than a bunch of grapes or a fig. If you tell me that you desire a fig, I answer you that there must be time. Let it first blossom, then bear fruit, then ripen. Epictetus

When I started escaping

When I started escaping to a neighbor’s house to watch what I darn well pleased, it turned out to be The Big Valley. Every afternoon my friend and I would pour grape juice over mounds of ice cream and settle in to see what was happening with Barbara Stanwyck and Linda Evans and the boys … Read more