François Mauriac, a French writer from Bordeaux who also had family vineyards, recounts how Rossini, when someone asked him who the greatest musician was, replied:
– Beethoven.
– But Mozart, then?
– Mozart? He is the only one.
Indeed, it is useless to say that Mozart is the greatest of all. Without common measure with the others, he is isolated from them by his very purity.
Without risking ridicule, and backed up by solid historical references, the formula could be applied to Pinot Noir.
And, quite curiously, it was also François Mauriac who, unintentionally, gave us the formula. As a journalist asked him if he liked Burgundy, he replied:
- I like Burgundy but… I prefer wine.”
He didn’t think to say so well. Or rather he did.
He thought he was making fun of Burgundy wines, but without meaning to, it was extremely well said. It was, unconsciously formulated, the most beautiful homage imaginable.
Because indeed, it is useless to say that Burgundy’s Pinot Noir is not wine. It has nothing in common with the others; it is isolated from them by his very purity. By his vocation, dare we add.
What vocation?
We need to take a look at the history and theology here to understand what is at stake.
As we mentioned it in a previous post, 2000 years ago, at the last meal Jesus had with his disciples, he shared bread and wine with them. And he asked them to repeat this gesture in memory of him after his departure. A meal that a painting by Leonardo da Vinci has immortalized and that almost everyone knows, The last Supper.
It was called The Institution of the Eucharist.
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« You shall do this in remembrance of me. »
During his lifetime, Jesus instituted the Eucharist – literally “gratitude”, “thanksgiving” in Greek – as a memorial of his sacrifice.
Announcing the sacrifice of the cross that was to take place the next day, he established the living and true memorial of that sacrifice by the offering of bread and wine which became, through his blessing, his body and blood. « This is my body, this is my blood, shed for the multitude, for the forgiveness of sins ».
This mysterious moment is called “transubstantiation”, literally the conversion of one substance into another, that of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ during the Mass by the operation of the Holy Spirit.
The Bread and Wine, called the ‘Eucharistic Species’, or the ‘Holy Species’, thus acquire a sacred status. Since that day, Christians have shared the Bread and Wine during the Mass in memory of that moment.
Later, a special prayer was composed, ‘Ave Verum Corpus’, a prayer dedicated to Jesus Christ in memory of the gesture that He Himself instituted. Its Latin title means ‘Hail, True Body’, thus acknowledging his Real Presence in the bread and wine consecrated at Mass by the priest.
The most moving of these is the one composed by Mozart in 1791, overwhelming in its simplicity and genius. A prayer of infinite tenderness addressed to God who, out of love, gave his Life to save humanity.
This institution of the Eucharist has been practised by Christians since the earliest times of the Church. This tradition has never been lost. It expresses the desire to unite with all human history, with the holy tradition fulfilled in Jesus Christ our Lord.
It is the founding act of a civilisation. And more widely, of a new humanity.
This is what must be kept in mind to fully understand the roots of Wine, of Holly Wine, in Western culture. The compenetration of religious history and winemaking history; its role as an intercessor between men and their Creator. As the net of the best incense does in other civilizations.
To celebrate this sacred union, the best wine was needed. A grape variety had to be found that would produce a beverage worthy of serving as a divine vehicle; a wine that would ensure intimate closeness with the Lord.
This will be the subject of our next post: the millenary Pinot Noir adventure in Burgundy.