“In vino veritas” is a saying attributed to Pliny the Elder. In wine there is truth.
The Latin phrase refers to people who, under the influence of alcohol, feel free to speak their minds, and it is often followed by “in aqua sanitas,” or in water there is health. In that context, it offers a warning against drunkenness; wine lovers prefer to say the Roman author intentionally omitted the second phrase or that it was reconnected by temperance advocates.
Standing alone, in vino veritas is nuanced. It retains the negative connotation of loose-lipped inebriation, but it also hints at a more positive truth, hidden within ourselves and revealed through wine’s mystical ability to elevate our spirit.
On two consecutive evenings, on two sides of the country, and with two groups of people, I experienced the positive truth in wine. The first occasion was a wedding. About a hundred people gathered at District Winery in Southeast Washington to celebrate the union of two men in a hilarious and unconventional ceremony that combined elements of Greek drama and slapstick comedy with traditional ritual. Wine flowed as freely as the tears, and there was cheese and charcuterie amid the camaraderie. Throughout the reception, dinner and dancing that followed, guests who hadn’t met before bonded over their mutual affection for the happy couple. (At one point, I heard someone exclaim, “I want to meet his sister!”) And I became closer friends with people I deal with regularly but rarely in person.
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Wine was secondary to the proceedings, of course, but it is difficult to conceive of such an event without it. Wine is the drink of celebration. We raise our glasses to toast each other, commemorate the past and welcome the future. It helps bring us together. Wine never tastes quite as good when we drink it alone.
Share this articleShareTwenty-four hours later, I was in northwestern New Mexico with about a dozen colleagues. A long day of travel included airport delays, a flat tire in the middle of the desert for one member of our team, and the kick of driving along the old Route 66. After all the work was done, several of us gathered at our hotel to unwind and debrief on the day’s events.
And there was wine. One colleague brought a bottle of Turnbull Cabernet Sauvignon 2014 from Napa Valley, a gift from his father. I contributed a Limerick Lane 1910 Block Zinfandel from the Russian River Valley in Sonoma County. Argentine malbecs from Gascón and Alamos, procured at local supermarkets, were offered. There may also have been Crown Royal. Wine is supposed to be paired with food, but all we had were some cold gluten-free pizza and the makings of bruschetta, left over from a midafternoon dinner.
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We feasted on conversation instead. After recapping the day, talk moved on to work and life. We didn’t say much about the wine. Instead, we groused about bureaucracy and bragged of our individual accomplishments, as well as those of our children. Before long there were several conversations going at once, as colleagues became friends and an ordinary work trip became an experience that we will remember for years and may ultimately be mentioned at our retirement parties. No one was drunk, but we relaxed and laughed and communed as wine transformed our fatigue into energy for a few hours. When the bottles were empty, we cleaned the room and called it a night, happy and ready to do it all again the next day.
Life and work drove these gatherings, not wine. Yet wine added its charm and a measure of honesty. It was a voice in the celebratory choir of the wedding, though it didn’t carry the melody. It played magician to a small group in a hotel meeting room, changing a long and weary day into a memorable evening. On a more mundane level, wine can help us celebrate minor victories as well as major life events, or lift our cares and spirits when we are down.
In vino veritas.
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