"Wine, the most agreeable of beverages, whether we owe it to Noah who planted the first vine or Bacchus who pressed the first grapes, dates from the beginning of the world ...

All men, even the ones we have agreed to call savages, have been so tortured by this thirst for strong liquors, which they are impelled to procure for themselves, that they have been pushed beyond their known capacities to satisfy it."

So said legendary gourmand Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, a fellow renowned for his sagacity on matters pertaining to the appetites, la condition humaine, and, of course, the grape.