About Wines Etc. and wine as a medium.

I recently bought this book sight unseen from the delightful Omnivore Books in San Francisco. Titled About Wines Etc. and self-published by the designer and author Clarence Pearson Hornung in 1934 in a run of 750 copies, the book is most marked by Hornung’s enthusiasm and belief in the magic of wine.

Hornung begins by describing wine’s origins as providing a “medium for direct communication with the lords of the mystic world.” Quite a description of the fine art of tippling! He goes on to argue that as societies evolved, wine’s role also evolved from a key to unlocking the supernatural to a “precious means of intensifying the more finely-drawn and contemplative pleasures of life. “ Wine is art, wine is alive, and is a delight to all of the senses. “The selection of his glassware, the setting of his table, the design of his cellar…even his mode of living….are conditioned to these ends.” After putting aside Hornung’s antiquated male pronouns, what’s left is that he really loves wine and believes deeply in its importance.

And so do I. Wine has been a big part of my life for a long time. I started with Concha y Toro Merlot paired with canned vegetarian chili and went from there. “Taste,” Hornung writes, “in the last analysis, is an individual matter.” Wine tastes different pulled out of a snowbank than it does sitting on a picnic blanket on the levee in New Orleans with a poboy in hand. Wine is food, culture, history…and also a pretty delicious condiment making your meal taste better. The wine, the setting, the maker and the drinker all matter. That last point is something I’m going to discuss more in upcoming posts. The experiences and background of the drinker definitely matter, and we should be encouraging all palates and voices to join in the conversation with special recognition that new voices can offer new perspectives. Cheers everyone!