Parlez-vous vin?

It makes sense that great French writers would have interesting thoughts on their country’s longtime favorite beverage. And so they do:

“The Weinbach style is unapologetically feminine, because, as Laurence Faller says, ‘Wines are meant to be drunk, not just tasted. God made only water, but man made wine.’ ” — Victor Hugo

It is time to get drunk! So as not to be the martyred slaves of Time, get drunk; get drunk without stopping! On wine, on poetry, or on love, as you wish.” — Charles Baudelaire

“Wine is the intellectual part of the meal, meats are the material part.”  — Alexandre Dumas (left)

“Within the bottle’s depths, the wine’s soul sang one night.” — Baudelaire

“When in joy we tap the cask
All our dreams bring what we ask.
Drink it! Drink it! Kindly Friend,
Then our cares will swiftly end,
Drink to you, then drink to me,
Pledge our dual prosperity.”
— Old French Poem