Wine: A Social and Cultural History of the Drink that Changed Our Lives by Rod Phillips (English Edition)

Wine: A Social and Cultural History of the Drink that Changed our Lives by Rod Phillips is a captivating exploration of the role of wine in the social and cultural history of humanity.

Wine is a drink with a long history, produced on every continent except Antarctica, and there are very few places where its sale and consumption are completely prohibited. This book shows us how this simple grape-based drink has shaped our landscapes, politics, language, and social interactions.

Rod Phillips, a wine historian, takes a thematic approach to reveal the profound effect that wine has had on various aspects of life. The book is filled with surprising facts that demonstrate the importance of wine in our lives. For example:

• During World War I, French soldiers received a ration of one liter of wine per day, after experiments showed that soldiers who drank wine were more alert and energetic than those who drank beer. The eventual defeat of the beer-drinking German army served to prove the superiority of wine in the eyes of the French.

• The earliest known wine labels were discovered in the tomb of the Egyptian king Tutankhamun, who died in 1323 BC. They provide not only details about the estate, vintage, and winemaker but also notes on the quality and style of the wine.

• Men have been boasting about their wine-drinking prowess for centuries, with 18th-century port drinkers seeking to assert their masculinity by claiming to be "three-bottle men" – able to drink three bottles of port without feeling the effects.

• Wine and cheese may be a common pairing today, but until the 19th century, most cheeses were synonymous with peasantry and reputed to smell of the countryside. No fashionable host would have served cheese with wine.

• A modern victim of a wine-related crime in America discovered that he had paid $4 million for 400 bottles of counterfeit wine, including four bottles bearing the initials of Thomas Jefferson, which, upon closer inspection, were found to have been engraved with an electric tool.

Details:

• Author: Rod Phillips
• Language: English 🇬🇧
• Series: The Classic Wine Library
• Format: Paperback / softback
• Pages: 266 pages, 13 Illustrations, black and white
• Publisher: Académie du Vin Library
• ISBN: 9781913141745
• Published: February 6, 2024
• Weight: 436g
• Dimensions: 234 x 159 x 25 mm
• Language: English

Wine is an entertaining and informative exploration of the social and cultural impact of wine and is an essential addition to the library of any wine enthusiast.