Experiencing God vs Experiencing Wine

Easy there, dear reader.  No blaspheming here.  But in the latest issue of Winemaker Magazine (one of the only two magazines to which I subscribe, the other being Relevant), a guest columnist (Steve Sieberson) described his recent travels to Greece, relating a lovely little story about tasting Greek wine and then connecting that vignette to another story about visiting a Greek Orthodox priest in Seattle and talking about Orthodox worship. The stories nestle together beautifully:

A Greek friend of Sieberson's introduced him to the landlord of the place where the friend lived, who proceeded to then serve local wine from a jug to the pair.  Sieberson relates it like this:

We proceeded to work our way through the contents of the jug.  At some point I noticed that the old man tapped the table with his glass before every sip.  Looking more closely, I saw that he also raised the glass and sniffed it before each drink.  I asked [my friend] what the ritual meant.  He translated my question, and the man smiled before launching into a detailed explanation.  He made liberal use of his hands to illustrate.

When the landlord paused [my friend] turned to me.  "He says that wine is too important to just drink it.  You have to experience it with all your senses - with your ears by touching the glass to the table or clinking it with another glass, with your eyes by holding it to the light, with your nose by sniffing it.  Finally, in your mouth you feel it on your tongue and taste it with you taste buds.  Only when you drink it this way can you truly appreciate it and give it the proper respect."

Some months later a Greek Orthodox priest in Seattle would describe his concept of worship in a similar way.  Touching the holy water, seeing the icons, hearing the cantor, smelling the incense, and tasting the communion bread - these, he told me, work together to create a complete physical awareness of the presence of God. 

How familiar this sounds to me, and how natural.  Yet it hadn't put the two together until reading this latest issue.  In another place, I've written about my own quest for a worship tradition in which to experience God with all my senses.  It seems like such a natural and simple idea, but is so hard to find in the modern and rational West.  I appreciate very much the Orthodox and Catholic traditions for their emphasis on apprehending God with the natural senses.