Be intentional.
Be careful team Catholic, drink your wine intentionally.
Just like praying the rosary or meandering your way through Lent - it’s easy to start an endeavor with the best intentions, only to find yourself at the end with nearly no recollection of what happened in the middle.
Ever finish your morning commute and realize you have nearly no recollection of what happened on your journey? Ever get to the end of the Gospel and realize you have no idea what the readings were about? Me neither, but yikes, pay attention.
Similar things happen with wine, the first sip hits your taste buds and makes a brief impression, but suddenly the glass is empty and you’ve not thought twice about what you just drank.
You see many things but do not observe; ears open, but do not hear.
Isaiah 42:20
Not all wine warrants a whole lot of thought. Terrible wines are what they are, and sometimes, that’s the charm of them.
In prepping wines for a large tasting I came across a bottle that was corked - no good. It was hazy, musky (in a bad way), and almost all fruit flavors were really muted. Even more convincing - it smelled, looked, and tasted nothing like the seven other identical bottles I opened. I could have taken the bottle back (that’s a thing - you can re-cork a bad bottle and bring it back to your wine shop. I’ve learned a lot through these experiences), or poured it out. However, wine deserves to be tasted. Even if it’s bad wine. There was something to be learned as an example of a bottle that was flawed. So whether your wine is bad because of cork taint or it’s full of synthetic flavors and color additives - it’s worth paying attention to what you are tasting.
I ended up giving tasters a chance to experience the corked wine. A few slashes across the label with the knife on the waiters key made sure that the bottle didn’t get mixed up with Want to know what wine may have been like in the time of Jesus? Taste this corked bottle. Wine was likely often flawed, oxidized (when flavors to break down and begins the process of turning to vinegar when exposed to air), fermented through wild yeasts, and frequently mixed with herbs and flavors.
If you don’t taste the bad, you have little reference for the good. Every sip is an education. God reveals himself to us through goodness, truth, and beauty. Wine is an amazing avenue through which to encounter the beautiful. Pay attention.
Taste and see the Lord is good.
-Psalm 34:9
Cheers & God Bless.