...The soul of the wine rises silently...
In my glass, in foam beads,
And evaporates in the night
Let the flower of the vines perfume ...
Extract from "Vines in bloom" by André Theuriet
... forget for a moment the obstacles with a glass of good wine, smell its scents: aniseed, cinnamon, saffron, orange blossom, oak and escape for a moment of pleasure like Bacchus or Dionysus...
I have tried to schematically reproduce the winemaking process according to my favorite technique, which is the art of the dot. The painting symbolically represents the bunches of grapes and the pressed grains flowing into glasses. Of course, these are only the stages that seem to me to be the most representative of this transformation of the grape into wine until it is tasted. The bunches already harvested lose their grains, these are crushed to produce the nectar and finish their course in a glass. The color of the bottom of the painting represents the juice obtained for fermentation and the shape of the glass suggests both the opening of the press through which the grapes pass and the stemmed glass of common use for tasting the precious beverage much appreciated by the gods ... and humans.
Its incomparable taste and the drunkenness it provides make wine the symbol of not only earthly but also celestial pleasures: at the banquet, at the table of the gods, good food rhymes with the voluptuousness of the flesh. Wine resembles blood, the vital liquid that symbolizes the bonds of heredity and alliance.
As such, it is the privilege of the deities as it is that of the powerful. To drink, to share the "blood of the earth", makes it possible to appropriate a share of immortality. Wine is the emblem of the gods who are reborn. The great masters have illustrated by their art the history of wine throughout the centuries.
Mythological painting (of which Bacchus, ex-Dionysus, is the best representative for wine) made its appearance in the 16th century. "( inspiration: virtual wine museum)
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)