Winemaking is as old as civilization itself. For thousands of years, from its origins in ancient Mesopotamia to its current status as a global industry, the history of wine has been directly related to major social, cultural, religious and economic changes. Oz Clarke takes a look at more than 100 bottles that mark an evolution in the story of wine, capturing the innovations and discoveries that have had the biggest impact along the way. Oz explores the flavors, the labels, the vineyards and the people who have influenced wine through the centuries from the medieval Cistercian monks of Burgundy, to scientists like Pasteur and Peynaud, who improved key technical aspects of winemaking and 20th-century giants like Robert Mondavi and Robert Parker Jr. Oz talks about famous vintages—from the 1727 Rüdesheimer Apostelwein to the first Montana Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc in 1979 and today's cult wines from Bordeaux and California—and discusses the impact of changing climate on winemaking around the world. These stories are told to make wine more alive, to bring wine's wonders closer to you, and also to make you think, to ask you to ponder wine's past—where it comes from; wine's present—where it is now; and wine's future—where it is going. Going from 6000BC and the probable birth of a wine culture in ancient Georgia, through the fact and fiction of Persia, Egypt, Greece and Rome and then on along the fascinating cluttered trail right up to the trends and tribulations of now, Oz shares over a hundred stories, and woven into these tales are probably a hundred more about the rich history of 'bottled poetry'.
