“Wine adds a smile to friendship and a spark to love,” claimed Edmondo De Amicis. Who could blame him? Since the very ancient times of the Etruscans, the association between wine and intoxication has existed. Fufluns was the god of wine, of the grape harvest, but also of happiness, depicted as a handsome, half-naked young man adorned with vine leaves and holding an amphora. In later civilizations, the Greeks and Romans, Dionysus and Bacchus were among the highest religious cults. The two deities, in addition to being the protectors of wine, were also protectors of sensual pleasure and all-round enjoyment, including sex. These interconnected elements can be summed up in the concept of pleasure, both physical and mental.
Wine contains moderate amounts of ethyl alcohol, averaging between 11% and 15%, a substance that removes inhibitions, dissolves shyness, makes one more daring, thus aiding sexual advances and making the experience between the sheets more “fiery.” There’s no doubt about it. Furthermore, it’s a pleasant drink, enjoyable to savor, pairs well with food, perhaps even during a romantic encounter—all situations that facilitate romantic relationships. The real secret lies in not overindulging, of course, because you’d get the opposite effect, from a bull to a teddy bear…
Examples in literature and film citing wine as a magic potion for love are plentiful, from ancient Greece to the present day.
Euripides, the Greek playwright, wrote as early as 400 BC, “Where there is no wine, there is no love, and no other delight has mortals.”
Even earlier, in the 8th century BC, the Nestor’s Cup, the first wine goblet in history, was found in Ischia, engraved with the words, “Whoever drinks from this cup will immediately be seized by desire for the beautiful Aphrodite.” The association between women, wine, and sex has existed since ancient times.
The great Charles Baudelaire, the accursed poet of “The Flowers of Evil,” wrote in the 19th century: “Wine is for lovers; it creates euphoria in states of intoxication, a celebration of mutual love.” Wine also creates a sense of freedom, a wonderful world in which two lovers can immerse their passions: “softly cradled on the wings/ of a whirlwind that rises with/ wisdom/ in a delirium that assails us together.”
Hemingway, another enlightened writer, who considered wine one of the signs of the greatest civilization in the world, never failed to enjoy a good glass of the finest French and Italian wines before romantic encounters.
Again, a literary artist, a creative mind, a character who had an unhealthy relationship with alcohol and women, Charles Bukowski, in a burst of creativity, coined the motto “I’d like some wine, you, and the consequences,” beautifully encapsulating, in a few words, a single sentence, the essence of sex and wine, leaving us to guess and imagine the subsequent scenes, each according to our own sensibilities and imaginations.
Even in the world of film, the pairing of sex and wine has been emphasized many times.
The charming Agent 007, James Bond, always had a bucket, ice, and bubbles with him as a faithful ally during his tête-à-têtes with the opposite sex.
In the film Unfaithful, the handsome young suitor bewitches his prey by having her read a passage from the poet Umar Khayyam: “Drink wine, this is eternal life, this is what will give you youth, this is the season of wine, roses, and drunken friends. Be happy with this moment, this moment is our life.”
The list would be endless, but let me conclude with a milestone on the subject of wine and women, a film capable of melting even the hardest hearts. The talented Russell Crowe, as Max Skinner, bewitches the mysterious, sullen, yet charming Fanny Chenal with “I would like to spend my whole life with an irrational, suspicious goddess, with a taste of furious jealousy on the side, and a bottle of wine that tastes like you, and a glass that is never empty.”
We are all mortal until the first kiss and the second glass of wine.
Valentino Tesi
(December 2022)
