Sherry Vinegar Like all good foods, wine, beer, and spirits nourish and satisfy the body What sets them apart is the very direct way in which they touch the mind They contain alcohol, which is both a source of energy and a drug In moderate amounts, alcohol causes us to feel and express emotions of all kinds — happiness, conviviality, sadness, anger — with more freedom In large amounts, it’s a narcotic: it numbs feeling and clouds thought Alcoholic drinks thus offer various degrees of release from our usual state of mind Small wonder that they were once considered an earthly version of the nectar of the gods, foods that give mortals a taste of being carefree masters of life! Humankind has always had a thirst for alcohol, and now satisfies it with massproduced drinks that offer an inexpensive respite from the world and its cares But some wines and beers and spirits are among the most finely crafted foods there are, the best that the world and care have to offer Their flavor can be so rich, balanced, dynamic, and persistent that they touch the mind not with release from the world, but with a heightened attentiveness and connection to it Wine, beer, and spirits are the creation of microscopic yeasts, which break food sugars down into alcohol molecules Alcohol is a volatile substance whose own aroma is relatively diffuse It has the effect of lending a new dimension to the flavor of grapes and grains, a kind of open stage on which the food’s own volatile molecules can appear Yeasts are also prodigious flavor chemists, so during the fermentation they fill that stage with dozens of new aromas The winemaker or brewer then directs the transformation of this teeming, unruly cast into a balanced, harmonious ensemble Though they share this basic nature, wine ...wines and beers and spirits are among the most finely crafted foods there are, the best that the world and care have to offer Their flavor can be so rich, balanced, dynamic, and persistent that they touch the mind not with... persistent that they touch the mind not with release from the world, but with a heightened attentiveness and connection to it Wine, beer, and spirits are the creation of microscopic yeasts, which break food sugars... volatile substance whose own aroma is relatively diffuse It has the effect of lending a new dimension to the flavor of grapes and grains, a kind of open stage on which the food? ??s own volatile molecules can appear Yeasts are also prodigious flavor chemists, so