Winebits 626: The Happy New Year edition

This week’s wine news: The new Joy of Cooking does wine, plus bad news on the consumption front and the relationship between wine and God

• The Joy of Wine: The new version of the iconic Joy of Cooking has a terrific section on wine. It’s an outstanding introductory guide to making sense of wine as it relates to cooking — simply written, without too much winespeak, and it doesn’t talk down to its readers. Plus, it strikes a blow for screwcaps. This is my third Joy, and it’s easily the best of the three when it comes to wine. And it remains an indispensable cookbook. Highly recommended..

• More bad news: More of us are drinking spirits and fewer are drinking wine, and the difference between the two numbers is reaching historic levels. That’s according to a recent report by SipSource, which tracks wine and spirits sales by distributors. The report calls the difference “epic,” noting that “the divide is widening – the trend gap between wine and spirits has grown to +5.4 percent.” Even rose’s growth has slowed, something few of us expected.

• In search of God? A California religious studies professor says wine may help people deepen their connection to something bigger than themselves, including God. Stephen Lloyd-Moffett’s book “The Spirit of Wine, Finding Religion in the Fruit of the Vine,” says wine is often associated with social activity, sharing, and feelings of gratitude and deep thinking — all qualities associated with religion. This is an intriguing approach, and it does help put Catholicism’s use of wine into some sort of context. But I do wonder what the neo-Prohibitionists would say.