The need for connection and community is primal, as fundamental as the need for air, water and food.
-Dean Ornish
Where there is wine, there is possibility. What possibility you may ask? The possibility of building community.
This week’s article is inspired by a few things that have been a part of, read or watched over the past week. For instance, the sermon in my church today started off with scripture from John 2 that spoke about Jesus turning water into wine. That is not an excuse to promote drinking, but the passage spoke about how the wedding feast was able to continue because of the continued wine flow and communing of the guests at the feast.
Also, I like to watch travel shows. There is sort of a theme that seems to run through them, especially where food is involved. That theme is, you guessed it, community. They all seem to motion to the world as one big community and when we share food and/or drink, then we build connections within the world community.
Something that I have found in my travels over the years, whether involving wine or not, is that when you are open to meeting people, the world opens up to you. This coming from an introvert and painfully shy person, so believe me when I say, it is possible.
However, as I have gotten more into visiting wineries on my travel, I have met many types of people and I can not express how being open to a bit of dialogue has shaped me to be who I am today. A better person.
Oftentimes, more like 99% of the time, when I go out into the public I am alone and want to be left that way. An introvert, loner, shy guy even stuck-up are words that have been used to describe me. Of course, that is before people get to know me. However, once they do, they find out that I am one who is willing to comfort you in times of need and share in your times of joy. I seek to learn and to share my own knowledge.
I have found that the community of wine lovers; whether they are makers or drinkers, buyers or distributors, is a community of people who share. This community likes to literally sip and share. We welcome stories of your family, of your job, travels or just about anything else you care to share. It is an enhanced experience when you visit a winery. The idea of drinking something so magical direct from the place it was produced is tangible. Let’s not forget to mention the makers themselves. How many times do you purchase things from the store and never even see the person who had a hand in making them. However, at a winery, you could have a chance to meet the grapegrower or vintner or the bottler. Sometimes that person is one in the same. It is an amazing time to talk to them and get a feel of how they approach the wine that their winery is so proud of. I’m telling you, this deepens the flavor of the wine in ways you would not expect.
Community bears a definition of ‘…group sharing common characteristics or interests…’ (Dictionary.com). Wine can be that common interest and where wine is involved, responsibly, it can bring people from all walks of life together into a community. A community can support and encourage all of its members and beyond. And dare I say, I am inspired by community.
