Can wine drinking be a spiritual experience? Cal Poly professor says yes, and here’s why
Wine makes you feel good, but can it bring you closer to God?
A new, self-published, 197-page book by a Cal Poly religious studies professor examines how wine can help people deepen one’s connection to something bigger than themselves.
Stephen Lloyd-Moffett’s book “The Spirit of Wine, Finding Religion in the Fruit of the Vine,” was released Nov. 29 and is now available at Amazon for $19.99.
Lloyd-Moffett, who has taught classes on the topic at Cal Poly since 2010, said “some of the most religious people I know are devoted to wine, but they don’t see themselves as religious.”
“So many people who feel disconnected and disenchanted by church or synagogue can find the same type of fulfillment through wine,” Lloyd-Moffett said. “For some people, wine is a center for spirituality. It’s an alternative vehicle for spiritual depth.”
Chapters in the book include “The Rituals of Wine,” “The Mysticism of Wine,” and “Discover Spiritual Inebriation.”
The Arroyo Grande resident, who’s also a winemaker, said that wine is an integral cultural aspect of SLO County, and in conversations with other winemakers he has learned that often some of the best terms to describe the tasting experience are religious.
“Wine can offer community, mystery and transcendence,” Lloyd-Moffett said.
Lloyd-Moffett said wine is often associated with social activity, sharing, and feelings of gratitude and deep thinking, all qualities associated with religion.
He references wine aficionados whose vacations have begun to look like wine pilgrimages, tasting groups from which meaningful relationships develop, and the ritual of sacrifice of a precious bottle offered up to a group.
Religious ties to wine
Lloyd-Moffett said that he spent about a year living in monasteries around the world. He has also studied various world religions in depth. And associations with wine in religion are prevalent.
Wine is the most referenced food or drink in the Hebrew Bible, he said. In the Dominican Order of the Catholic Church, pouring wine for others is a rule, Lloyd-Moffett said.
“You can’t pour wine for yourself,” he said.
Also, in a familiar passage, Jesus performs his very first miracle by turning water into wine, which Lloyd-Moffett said is notable because it revealed his divinity for the first time.
“It’s the very first time he reveals himself to be the son of God,” Lloyd-Moffett said. “Jesus is the most famous winemaker.”
Typically, people saved the worst wine for the end of a wedding, after the higher quality bottles were consumed, but Jesus’ wine turned out to be tops that evening, according to the New Testament.
Lloyd-Moffett said that it was a cultural taboo of biblical times to run out of wine at a wedding, which adds perspective to the miracle.
The experience of drinking, just not too much
Lloyd-Moffett said he has encouraged people to keep journals of their wine-drinking experiences.
“There is such a difference in how you experience wine,” Moffet said. “The same wine can taste very different on different days. It can taste different based on your experience, and depending on who you’re drinking with. It’s a living being that induces a subjective experience.”
Lloyd-Moffett hosts wine events in which he asks participants to draw a picture or write a poem that connects them to the wine they’re drinking.
In his Cal Poly classes, students 21 or over hear guest talks from winemakers from around the county. And they taste wines as part of the class.
Lloyd-Moffett acknowledges that abuse of alcohol can take people away from spiritual fulfillment.
“Just like so many things that God gives us, wine can be abused in a negative way,” Lloyd-Moffett said. “For some, alcohol can represent memories of hurt and displacement. For those people, the most spiritual thing to do is to avoid alcohol.”
Self-publishing offers benefits to authors
Lloyd-Moffett said that he has previously published academic books. But his latest book is meant for an audience beyond the world of scholars.
Also, for every dollar an author makes publishing an academic book, typically about $19 goes to the publisher.
By publishing through Amazon, the company collects $12 and the author takes $8. And books are printed based on orders, so the supply meets the demand, he said.
Moffett said he has sold about 150 copies of his latest publication thus far.
“This book is about those wine drinkers who are not just passionate about wine, but have a kind of religious devotion to it,” Moffett wrote. “... The point is that for devotees like us, wine captures our heart, mind and sole completely.”
This story was originally published December 23, 2019 at 7:00 AM.
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