Wine, good luck, and supersticious rites
Are there really wines that bring good luck, or at least are there superstitious rites regarding wine? Yes there are and not only in Italy
By Donatella Cinelli Colombini
Wine, good luck and superstition. What is sure, and most know about this, is that there are some superstitious rites against bad luck that do regard wine: especially that it is very unlucky to pour with the left hand, “like a traitor” as Judas did during the last dinner. In certain areas of South Italy it is in fact considered offensive.
Also pouring wine with your palm facing upwards in inconvenient. This gesture is considered negative because many centuries ago, when in the courts the assassins used to kill with poison hidden in their rings. They used to shake the lethal powder into the glass, turning the hand that was pouring the wine upwards.
There are though also gestures that bring good luck such if a few drops of wine get spilled during a toast, it is considered a good thing to dip your fingers in and touch behind the ears. This should make you rich.
But traditions that bind wine to good luck are not only Italian: in Spain it is a tradition (since 1909) to eat 12 grape berries during the last 12 seconds of the year, one for each bell strike, this is to bring prosperity for the next 12 months. Another good luck rite for the New Year comes from Germany, at midnight one should be dressed up, eat pink pig shaped marzipan sweets and drink Feuerzangenbowle (Fire punch) which is made with red wine, spices, orange peels and rum.
There are wines who have a sort of magic as if they were a charm, because they get costume during the moment of success, first among all others Champagne. There is an automatic association, bubbles-success, and this is always the case with ceremonies especially sporting ones shown on TV all over the world, like the Formula 1. More than being the prize for the victory Champagne seems to be used for good luck.
In truth like Napoleon and Winston Churchill used to say about Champagne, both of which consumed it in great amounts <<in victory I deserve it, in defeat I need it>>
Up to here these have been quite common traditions, but then there are those that are more personal and secret for each of us, that regard the wines from the important moments of our lives, such as our wedding, our degree or our fist date with the person who became our partner forever. These are the good luck wines for the couple or for each individual. Each of us has their own and it is fantastic for a wine producer to know that your wine has created a lucky spark that has changed someone’s life. For example my Doc Orcia Cenerentola helped two people meet, they have since come to Fattoria del Colle to buy it and have it served at their wedding banquet.
Brunello too is made of stardust. This wine is officially born on the stroke of midnight of the last day of the years and we use it for our toast to the new year so that our guests are the first to taste it and it brings them good luck for the next 12 months.