A thing of beauty

It is a history of the egg preceding the chicken. The manufacture of glass began around 4,000 B.C., and we generally accept that winemaking began about a thousand years later. Prior to the invention of the drinking glass, the common drinking vessel was fired clay (pottery). The privileged “lahdee- dah” had to make do with gem-encrusted golden goblets. Would you consider wine without a glass?

The Chinese were the first to work glass in the form of beads. The Greeks later developed ways to create wonderful works fashioned from glass. There is reason to believe that the Egyptian pharaohs began the first use of glass for wine drinking.

But it was Pliny the Elder, in the first century A.D., who promoted the use of wine glasses both as a status symbol and as an aesthetic consideration. Each glass was hand crafted, which made them an ultimate luxury item in Roman society. Pliny wrote of the pleasure of seeing the color of the wine in a glass, and correctly believed that wine from a glass tasted superior to any other vessel.

Thirteen centuries later, the Venetians perfected the art of glass on the island of Murano. (The Doge of Venice prohibited the use of the wood fires within the city limits.)

Venice, as a major trading nation with the East, imported soda ash, which — combined with the local supply of silica stones and fine sand — created all manner of works of art in glass. To this day, glassware from Murano is famous. So Venetian city fathers were very proprietary about their trade secrets. Glassmakers were forbidden, on pain of death, to leave the city or share their knowledge with other lands. Despite this threat, some footloose glassmakers fled the city, and established glassmaking industries in England and the Netherlands

Next week we will see what impact the Industrial Revolution had on the glass manufacturing industry.

THIS WEEK’S PICK
Merlot has been given a bad rap by Hollywood. Folk in La La Land just don’t get it! Merlot is one of the prime Bordeaux varietals, which grows extremely well in North America. It is a thing of simple beauty.

Newly wed Frederic Picard, winemaker of Huff Estates Winery, proves the point succinctly. His 2011 Merlot ($19.95) — made from Ontario-grown grapes — is crafted to a deep garnet color, with a nose of hidden dark fruit, light vanilla and cedar. A lightly spiced, soft tannin finish follows a bountiful mouthful of red fruit, cherry and prune.

Huff Merlot is a must for the summer barbecue circuit. It is well worth a visit to the winery at 2274 County Rd. 1 (just west of Highway 62 in Bloomfield) to pick up a bottle or two. While you are there, check out the new patio dining area.