40 Timeless Wine Quotes from the Greatest Minds in History
Throughout history, wine has played a significant role in human culture, inspiring artists, writers, and philosophers alike to extol its virtues and muse upon its allure. As the timeless saying goes, "In vino veritas" (in wine, there is truth).
This collection of famous wine quotes highlights the universal and deeply rooted love for this enchanting elixir that transcends time and place.
From the wisdom of the ancients to the romantic musings of literary icons, these quotes capture the essence of wine's power to bring people together, spark creativity, and enliven the senses.
So, pour yourself a glass and revel in the captivating words of those who have been touched by the magic of wine.
Funny Wine Quotes
"Be careful to trust a person, who does not like wine." - Karl Marx
"Too much of anything is bad, but too much Champagne is just right." - Mark Twain
"I cook with wine, sometimes I even add it to the food." - W.C. Fields, American comedian and actor.
"Wine is constant proof that God loves us and loves to see us happy." - Benjamin Franklin, American polymath and Founding Father.
"Either give me more wine or leave me alone." - Rumi, Persian poet and theologian.
"I can certainly see that you know your wine. Most of the guests who stay here wouldn't know the difference between Bordeaux and Claret." - Basil Fawlty, a character played by John Cleese in the British TV series "Fawlty Towers."
"One should always be drunk. That's all that matters... But with what? With wine, with poetry, or with virtue, as you choose. But get drunk." - Charles Baudelaire, French poet.
"I drink to make other people more interesting." - Ernest Hemingway, American novelist and journalist.
The following exchange apparently unfolded at a dinner party in England where Winston Churchill (who had been drinking a lot of wine) was sat next to Bessie Braddock, a famous socialist at the time.
Bessie Braddock: "Winston, you're drunk!"
Winston Churchill: "Madame, I may be drunk, but you are ugly, and tomorrow I will be sober."
Ouch!
Romantic Wine Quotes
"Wine enters through the mouth, love, the eyes. I raise the glass to my mouth, I look at you, I sigh." - W.B. Yeats, Irish poet and playwright.
"In wine, there's truth." - Pliny the Elder, Roman author and philosopher.
"Wine and love have always been connected in an ineffable way. Wine is inspiring and adds greatly to the joy of living." - Napoleon Bonaparte, French statesman and military leader.
"Love, like wine, gets better with time." - Unknown
"The first kiss and the first glass of wine are the best." - Marty Rubin, American author.
Most Famous Wine Quotes
"In vino veritas" (In wine, there is truth) - Alcaeus, Greek lyric poet.
"Wine is sunlight, held together by water." - Galileo Galilei, Italian astronomer and physicist.
"Age appears to be best in four things; old wood best to burn, old wine to drink, old friends to trust, and old authors to read." - Francis Bacon, English philosopher and statesman.
"Wine is bottled poetry." - Robert Louis Stevenson, Scottish novelist and poet.
A bottle of wine contains more philosophy than all the books in the world." - Louis Pasteur, French biologist and chemist.
Classy Wine Quotes
"The discovery of a good wine is increasingly better for mankind than the discovery of a new star." - Leonardo da Vinci, Italian polymath.
"Give me books, French wine, fruit, fine weather, and a little music played out of doors by somebody I do not know." - John Keats, English Romantic poet.
"Wine is the most healthful and most hygienic of beverages." - Louis Pasteur, French biologist and chemist.
"A man will be eloquent if you give him good wine." - Ralph Waldo Emerson, American essayist and poet.
"Nothing makes the future look so rosy as to contemplate it through a glass of Chambertin." - Napoleon Bonaparte, French statesman and military leader.
"Wine cheers the sad, revives the old, inspires the young, makes weariness forget its toil." - Lord Byron
"Wine moistens and tempers the spirits, and lulls the care of the mind to rest ... it revives our joys." - Socrates
"There are no standards of taste in wine... Each man's own taste is the standard, and a majority vote cannot decide for him or in any slightest degree affect the supremacy of his own standard." Mark Twain
Sarcastic Wine Quotes
"I have taken more out of alcohol than alcohol has taken out of me." - Winston Churchill, British statesman and Prime Minister.
"Always carry a corkscrew and the wine shall provide itself." - Basil Bunting, British modernist poet.
"My only regret in life is that I did not drink more wine." - Ernest Hemingway, American novelist and journalist.
"I like on the table, when we're speaking, the light of a bottle of intelligent wine." - Pablo Neruda, Chilean poet and diplomat.
"Men are like wine – some turn to vinegar, but the best improve with age." - Pope John XXIII, former head of the Catholic Church.
Beautiful Wine Quotes
"Wine is the divine juice of September." - Voltaire, French Enlightenment writer and philosopher.
"Wine is one of the most civilized things in the world and one of the most natural things of the world that has been brought to the greatest perfection, and it offers a greater range for enjoyment and appreciation than, possibly, any other purely sensory thing." - Ernest Hemingway, American novelist and journalist.
"The juice of the grape is the liquid quintessence of concentrated sunbeams." - Thomas Love Peacock, English novelist and poet.
"Wine can of their wits the wise beguile, make the sage frolic, and the serious smile." - Alexander Pope, English poet.
"A glass of wine at times works wonders for the overworked mind." - Mahatma Gandhi, Indian leader and independence activist.
"God made only water, but man made wine." - Victor Hugo
I’ll leave you with one of my favorite quotes about wine from a wonderful artist.
"Great wine requires a mad man to grow the vine, a wise man to watch over it, a lucid poet to make it, and a lover to drink it." - Salvador Dalí
What’s your favorite quote about wine? Let me know in the comments section, I’d love to continue this discussion more!
