Vintage: The Story of WinePublisher description -- In this enthralling book, Hugh Johnson tells how wine--that most symbolic and subtle joint product of man and nature--runs as a thread through our history. He provides for the first time the cultural perspective that enables us to understand the wine world we know today, and he tells an absorbing and very human story. In 8,000 years, wine has been refined and developed into one of the foremost products of civilization. The wines we drink and appreciate today are the direct product of this story. Great wines have their roots in the customs, traditions and history of their home ground. Hugh Johnson shows how the particularly special wines of the world have been honed and refined. He poses and answers the key question: Why have some places, and some people, made great wine, and what in the history of process explains the difference between the great and the merely good? |
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18th century amphora ancient barrels Beaune became Bordeaux bottle bought brandy British Burgundy Cabernet California called casks cellar champagne Château Cistercians claret Clos coast Constantia cork Côte Côte d'Or Côte de Beaune Côte de Nuits crus Dionysus Douro drink drunk Duke Dutch east Emperor Empire England English Europe export famous fermentation first-growths flavour France French German grape varieties grapes Greek growers growing Haraszthy island Italian Italy Jerez juice King known land later London Madeira Malmsey Mediterranean Médoc merchants modern Moselle northern oidium Paris perhaps phylloxera Pinot Pinot Noir planted Pliny Pontac port Portugal Portuguese produce red wine region Rheingau Rhine Rhône Riesling Rioja river Roman Rome sack Sauternes seems sherry ships soil Spain Spanish St-Emilion sugar sweet taste Tokay took town trade valley vines vineyards vintage white wines wine-growing winemaking winery