The soul of wine

Wine occupies a very important place in the major revealed religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. It is a remembrance of the Promised Land during the blessing of the Jewish Sabbath, one of the two species under which Christ becomes flesh, and the divine drink reserved for the chosen ones in Allah's paradise. Drawing on various sacred texts, theology, exegesis, sacred history, and general history, Georges Ferré, as a scholarly historian, examines the influence of the fruit of the vine, both in religious imagery and in rituals and daily life. In this historical, religious, and viticultural adventure, the author has chosen a chronological path, from Noah to the 21st century, where he portrays the great figures of the Bible, the Quran, and the city - patriarchs, prophets, theologians, bishops, monks, kings, princes, caliphs, imams, as well as the vast crowd of anonymous individuals - through banquets, liturgies, customs. Present in all the texts of the three religions, the juice of the vine thus appears as the drink that promotes a culture of mixing among all the descendants of Noah, capable of creating closeness with others, self-transcendence, and, for some, fusion with the Beyond. "The Soul of Wine" is a work to be consumed without moderation.