I recently had the honor and good fortune to symbolically officiate the wedding of my friends Paco and Alexandra. My role was to act as master of ceremonies, following the carefully crafted script that Paco had prepared. It was a simple yet elegant ceremony held at El Morro de Burriana, on the tip of the land where it meets the sea. An idyllic setting.
Paco and I have known each other for almost twenty years. Life brought us together thanks to our love of wine, so I felt that the wedding should include a nod to their passion for the world of wine. Even more so when a trip that Alexandra and Paco took to Priorat was the catalyst for publicly confirming their love. Suffice it to say that the wines served at the wedding were two excellent Methuselah bottles (6 liters), one of white Grenache from 2024 (Plantadeta) and another, wonderful, of Grenache and Carignan from 2006, both from Celler Sabaté.
It is well known that there are many different types of wedding ceremonies (religious, civil, Balinese, etc.), but there is also another one that is tailor-made for those of us who love the world of wine: the wine ceremony. So I decided that, as a surprise, I should enhance Paco and Alexandra’s union with this beautiful ritual.
To perform the ceremony, you need two glasses, one for each bride and groom. In this case, I used two Spiegelau Universal glasses and a larger Spiegelau Burgundy glass, as well as the wine, Plantadeta white Grenache, of course. Each of the wine glasses was presented to the bride and groom by their godfather and godmother, respectively, and then I said these words:
“Today, as your lives intertwine, we are going to symbolize your union through this wine. The wine in each of these two glasses represents your past and bears witness to the personal journey you have taken to get here.
Take your glasses and pour the wine into the new container, where the two wines will mix forever and can never be separated again. They will become one new and inseparable wine, the fruit of your love and commitment. By uniting your wines, you declare before your loved ones the love and commitment you make to the future that awaits you.
Now that these wines have merged into one, I invite you to drink from your union to seal this marriage, making all those present witnesses to your love.
The ceremony was accompanied by the music of “Summer Wine” by Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood.
I had never officiated at a ceremony of any kind before, but I was deeply moved to perform this act symbolizing love, the past, the present, and the future, thanks to a liquid element, wine, which is the result of the union of heaven and earth channeled by the hand of man.