The Preacher and His Pinot Noir

You may have read in the paper recently that, for the first time ever, overall U.S. wine sales have topped those of the wine-loving French. Walk through the vast display of bottles at your local Harris Teeter and you will be able to see why. Even in North Carolina there are over 100 wineries. I  have only ever toured one winery, Shelton Vineyard, which is located in the Yadkin Valley near Mt. Airy.   It is the largest family-owned winery in the state. I don’t remember much about the tour except that it was clear my taste buds aren’t all that trained. I could hardly tell the difference between a merlot and a chardonnay, except one was red and the other white.  But I did detect the taste variance between wine stored in oak barrels and metal barrels. Trying desperately to show I had some knowledge of wine, I asked the tour guide if they grow grapes for Pinot Noir. He said they tried, but the grapes were so delicate and sensitive to growing conditions  that the effort wasn’t cost effective. I nodded sagely and said, “just like they said in the movie Sideways.”   He stared at me like I had already been sipping the good stuff.

No one knows for certain when they first smashed a grape into wine. Some say the earliest firm evidence of wine’s presence is in Iran, and has been dated from between 5400 to 5000 B.C. In fact, Egyptians from this time left behind records about wine making.

Most in the medical profession will tell  you that red wine is good for you. The Bible even says “ take a little wine for the sake of  your stomach and your frequent ailments.” ( I Timothy 5:23 ) This is of course just one of many references to wine in the Bible.

This week we look at the 10th Commandment:  “Thou Shall Not Covet.”   We’ll explore this final commandment through the story in
I Kings 21, which is a tale of a plot to take a vineyard. It’s the intriguing tale of King  Ahab, who coveted the vineyard that belonged to his neighbor, Naboth. You’ll also meet Jezebel, Ahab’s queen. It’s a tale of murder, jealousy, and intrigue, like something out of one of those CSI series on television. The events in this chapter are all fueled by Ahab’s covetousness, and the ruin and destruction brought by it. 

     

By the way, I gave up wine for Lent. I'm looking forward to celebrating the glorious day of Easter, and then going home to a delicious dinner of Easter ham and a glass of Pinot. Am I coveting that glass of red? Hope not…hope I only covet the one thing that all of us really want. Come Sunday when I will share what that is.   See ya then.