One explanation is based on a source from the book of Psalms (104:15): “wine gladdens the heart of man.” In short, why not wine? To a point, it makes you happy and there’s something attractive about that.

That wine can make you happy may be true; also true is that wine can be problematic for some people. Perhaps it is this dichotomy that puts wine in a special category deserving of its own bracha, a way to heighten our awareness.

I prefer to see the special quality of wine is in the partnership needed to produce it: God created the earth, sunlight, rain and vine; we, with our God-given knowledge and ingenuity, had to figure out how to prepare the soil, tend the vine, harvest the fruit and transform its juice into an elixir.

And that, along with the Psalmist’s view, is why we incorporate wine in so many rituals: to remind us of our partnership with our Creator.