Escape Plan

The first time I had wine, I was 15. My friends and I attended a local production of Godspell, and after the show, the theater company held a small auction to raise funds. One item up for bid was a (cheap) bottle of vino that had been relabeled “Water Into Wine,” and my group got the bright idea to pool our funds to bid $100 on it. The company overlooked our youthful faces to award us our prize — and since we looked helplessly at the cork, Judas himself even opened it for us. We each poured some into a paper cup and raised what would be our first toast to one another. It tasted terrible, but that feeling of buzzed camaraderie was deliciously joyous. Keep Reading →