By Katherine Teixeira Bender
My Husband and I shared our first kiss over a glass of Rioja.
He had gone all out for a special evening on an Atlanta rooftop with the nice view, and made sure to include a bottle of my favorite Spanish wine. He knew how much I loved it, especially since I lived in Spain for a summer.
So there we were: city of Atlanta below us, glasses of Rioja between us, and neither one of us could figure out how to move forward to that first kiss. I finally broke the ice…
“You know, the Spanish have a special kiss that’s very coy and smooth”, I said while swirling my wine and then taking a sip. He looked at me with intrigue. I then proceeded to give him that Spanish kiss: slowly kissed him on his right check, moved slowly to leave a kiss on his left cheek, then I moved my lips to his forehead leaving a kiss there, and finally a brief kiss on his lips. My heart was racing thinking about how bold I was, and I quickly took another drink of wine to gather myself. Clearly, the brief kiss on the lips wasn’t enough for him, because then he took the glass out of my hand and made sure I had his full attention for the real kiss.
We married 5 years later, and spent our honeymoon in Spain… drinking plenty of Rioja.
By Douglas E. Welch http://welchwrite.com/blog
“I love you as much as I love this red,” she said.
I took that as the greatest compliment.
To be compared to a fine wine,
and all the history that comes before it,
is high praise indeed.
From wine’s discovery to today
it has stirred thoughts, dreams, love and lust.
Given us solace
and accompanied our joyful celebrations.
Man and wine move side-by-side through history.
Yes, I like to think I am a fine wine.
Tart, brash, smooth, spirited…ageless.
Life without wine would be like life without love.
“Pass the bottle,” I said,
“and kiss me.”
From Greek Anthology
The kiss that she left on my lip
Like a dew-drop shall lingering lie:
‘Twas nectar she gave me to sip,
‘Twas nectar I drank in her sigh!
The dew that distilled in that kiss
To my soul was voluptuous wine:
Ever since it is drunk with the bliss,
And feels a delirium divine.
As part of my teaching at Napa Valley College, I teach a class called “A Cultural Appreciation of Wine.” It’s an exploration of wine and culture throughout history, and we touch on everything from wine and medicine to art, religion, politics, and love. One of my students, Elisabet Alhambra (her pen name), became very interested in the connection between wine and romance—the connection between the touch of a glass to the lips, and the touching of two pairs of lips together. She’s had a lot of fun with the project, and she is spending her free time researching historic literature for more fun. But we also think that this might be even more fun if we could get a few people to offer a few thoughts on the topic of wine and love, kissing and romance. If you could find time to offer a brief story of something that happened in your life where these elements were connected…or just a few thoughts on how they ARE connected, we would love to include that!
Paul Wagner
Painting by Geoff Ellsworth.
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