Wine Brings People Together
by Richard ~ October 11th, 2009. Filed under: Questions.One recent evening, I was pouring some Israeli wine, one of Tzora’s single-vineyard reds from the Judean Hills we have placed in some Whole Foods stores in and around Chicago, for their customers.
A Palestinian woman approached and smelled then tasted the wine. The conversation between the 2 of us went something like this:
Her: “This wine is good. You know we’re supposed to be enemies, right?
Me: “That’s what some people would like us to believe, but I don’t think so.”
Her: “I left Israel a long time ago and haven’t been back. I miss it. My friends are there, much of my family. Many of my best friends were Jews there. I miss them.”
Me: “I’m honored to meet you tonight. I’m glad the wine makes you remember home.”
Her: “It smells like the land there. I can smell the dirt and the breeze. It smells like my home.”
And then she bought a bottle to take home with her. To remind her.
What interests and amazes me most about wine is the magical way it has of bringing people together across countries and cultures and backgrounds. Lifting people up above their narrow particularities and colliding them together. Taking them home again.
October 13th, 2009 at 1:01 pm
I attended a wine tasting event last night for the benefit of the local Food Bank, sponsored by the NFL and The Tasting Room here in Houston (now stocking five fine Israeli Wines from Richard) At my table was a Lebanese guy, a couple recently married and a few other total strangers. We found out early on in the evening that the young newlywed husband had just returned home from a final tour of active combat duty in Afghanistan. Everyone stood and toasted him for his service. It was an amazingly emotional moment that totally caught me off guard, and everyone else at the table. Thus began an evening of fine wines and remarkable stories and new friendships. Talk of Israel and Peace and the role of wine as “Cultural Ambassador” (idea stolen from Richard) ensued, and my Lebanese friend echoed what you said, the land, his home, all that history, and it was just a wonderful night. At the end of the evening, 25 people had raised funds for 8500 meals. Richard, you are so right. Wine brings people together.