Raise your glass to the history of toasting

In the anteroom of the Roman Senate after a long debate over what to do about the uprising in Brittany, Titus Cicero lifted a clay goblet above his waist. A slave poured dark red wine into his cup from a large earthen pitcher. It was 27 B.C.

Other members of the Senate watched closely; their eyes fixed on Cicero. Their goblets had been filled with wine from the same pitcher just moments before.

Cicero raised his goblet above his head and proclaimed “To Bacchus!”

The senators raised their goblets as well and repeated in unison the toast to the God of Wine.

Cicero took a long drink, swallowing hard. After a pause to observe his reaction, his Senate colleagues drank their host’s wine. They were waiting, just for a moment, to see that Cicero was not poisoned by the wine he offered them.

The toast, in those days of intrigue, conspiracy and assassination was an assurance that the host had not poisoned the wine he would serve you.

To spike the wine with poison was a common means of dispensing with enemies, ending a marriage or silencing one’s critics.

Ultimately, the toast became a symbol of friendship. The host would pour the wine from a common pitcher or bottle and drink it before his guests. After he was satisfied that it was an acceptable beverage, he would raise his glass to his friends to drink up.

But how did this get to be called a “toast”?

As this symbolic gesture became popular in the Roman Empire, a lot of wine was being drunk — some of it very bad wine. The term toast came from the Roman practice of dropping a piece of burnt bread into the wine before drinking.

The charcoal in the toasted bread reduced the acidity of wines that were slightly off and made them easier to drink. As time went on, the Latin word tostus, which literally meant “roasted” or “parched,” came to mean the drink itself.

By the 1800s toasting was not just a common practice, but also an important ritual at dinner parties of consequence. Every guest would receive a toast.

It was considered an insult and an act of direct contempt not to toast a guest. Every glass of wine at dinner had to be dedicated to someone.

To refrain from toasting was considered terribly rude, as if there was no one present worth drinking to. Partygoers even toasted the health of people not present at the party.

These toasts went to local celebrities, leaders and especially to the town’s beautiful women. A woman who became the subject of many toasts came to be known as “the toast of the town.”

Eventually, poisoning one’s enemies with wine fell by the wayside. Or it was left to paranoid kings and queens, such as Louis XIV of France who had a sommelier taste all his wine before he drank it, including regular tasting of all the wine in the barrels in his royal cellars.

Because those cellars were dimly lit, King Louis had little silver saucers made up for his sommeliers, called “tastevins” that are used today by professional tasters and sommeliers.

Tastevins are shallow, highly reflective, silver cups about 21/2 inches in diameter with a short handle and a chain so it can be worn around the neck. The color and clarity of wine can be checked with a small sample, especially in dim light.

Since the holiday season is upon us, and it now lasts from November to January, there will be many opportunities for toasting at holiday parties and dinners.

I suggest a return to the days when every glass poured requires a toast. This means you will have to do some soul searching and think of good things to say about your fellow wine drinkers.

It’s good to honor our friends and family during the holidays, thanking them for all their love, support or for just being there and not getting in the way.

Here are some of the rules for toasting:

Be eloquent, charming and witty.

Keep it simple. Your toast should be short and to the point. The simplest words are often the most sincere. Be yourself. Let the words come from your heart.

Be prepared. A good toast is a brief speech. But don’t use the toast as a soapbox for your views on politics or the latest Hollywood gossip.

Have a couple of toasts memorized. Make sure the toast is appropriate for the audience. Then, when you are done, say “Cheers!” or “Cin! Cin!” ( pronounced “Chin, Chin”) — an Italian toast — or “Salute!” (pronounced “Salutay”) — another Italian toast.

Always stand when offering a toast, unless it is a very informal group.

Never, ever, refuse to participate in a toast. It is acceptable to participate with a nonalcoholic drink.

Never drink a toast or stand when it’s being offered to you. But you should always stand after and respond to the toast, even just to thank the host for the kind gesture.

Also, never offer a toast to a guest of honor until the host has had a chance to do so.

And don’t push someone to give a toast; she may say something you won’t want to hear.

If you’re creative, you can come up with some wine-related toasts that might fit any occasion, such as “People are like wine, some turn to vinegar but the best improve with age” or “In every glass of wine can be found eternity on a human scale.”

Sayings like “Life is too short to drink bad wine” or “Life is a Cabernet” are probably better left for souvenir T-shirts from the Napa Valley.

Michael “Gino” Gianunzio is a local lawyer, wine maker and artist who lives on Camano Island. He can be reached at theislanditalian@yahoo.com.