Product Description

Interest in wine has steadily increased in recent years, with people far more sophisticated about wine than they used to be, and with more and more books being written about it, not to mention the success of films like Sideways. And, inevitably, those who take a serious interest in wine find themselves asking questions about it that are at heart philosophical.
Questions of Taste is the first book to tackle these questions, illuminating the philosophical issues surrounding our love of wine. Featuring lucid essays by top philosophers, a linguist, a biochemist, and a winemaker and wine critic, this book applies their critical and analytical skills to answer--or at least understand--many thorny questions. Does the experience of wine lie in the glass or in our minds? Does the elaborate language we use to describe wine--alluding to the flavors of cheese or fruit, or to a wines suppleness or brawniness--really mean anything at all? Can two people taste one wine in the same way? Does a wine expert enjoy wine more than a novice? How much should we care about what experts say about wine? These questions and others are not just the concern of the wine lover, but go to the heart of how we think about the world around us--and are the province of the philosopher.
With a foreword by leading wine authority Jancis Robinson (editor of the Oxford Companion to Wine), this volume will be of interest to anyone who thinks seriously about the experience of enjoying wine, as well as those interested in seeing philosophy applied to the world of the everyday.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #161381 in Books
• Published on: 2007-10-01
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 288 pages

From Booklist
This collection of essays springs from a recent London congress of wine experts investigating what, if any, words might possibly convey the sensual experience of drinking wine. These disquisitions on the ways humans discriminate among similar bottlings, evaluate their experiences, and communicate those experiences to one another summon the very specialized lexicon of philosophical aesthetics. To the uninitiated, this quest for a vocabulary of wine verges on the effete, but to connoisseurs, this effort lies at the heart of their craft and constitutes the sole way to share a unique and evanescent experience. Although the essays in this collection focus on wine, the insights and conclusions can apply to food in general as well as to any other aesthetically grounded endeavors. The serious wine drinker seeking deeper knowledge and a more meticulous appreciation of his favorite beverage will take from these essays a glimpse into deep and subtle structures of the human mind. Knoblauch, Mark

Review

"Questions of Taste is enjoyable to read and clearly written with references at the end of several essays."--L.E. Erickson, CHOICE
"This is a book best read with a glass of wine in hand The wine will also be a good study aid, allowing you to read test the ideas the moment they are presented."--New York Times
"The serious wine drinker seeking deeper knowledge and a more meticulous appreciation of his favorite beverage will take from these essays a glimpse into deep and subtle structures of the human mind."--Booklist
"The net effect is of an enjoyably thought-provoking curiosity."--Wine and Spirit
"The questions it wrestles with intoxicate the mind."--The Times Higher Educational Supplement
"[The contributors] prove themselves well up to the task of situating wine-centred questions within a larger framework of questions about taste and perception, subjectivity and objectivity, and aesthetic appraisal more generally."--The Times Literary Supplement
"This collection of essays is a gem, covering topics such as what we mean by 'fine wine', how we translate flavours on to the page, and the interaction between wine and the brain."--Tim Atkin, The Observer
"This collection of insightful essays addresses the experience, the language, taste, art, more. Drink and think."--Newsday.com
"This compilation of lucid essays by top philosophers, a linguist, a biochemist, a winemaker and wine critic addresses such questions as: Does the experience of wine lie in the glass or in the mind? Does a wine expert enjoy wine more than a novice? How much should we care what experts say about a wine?"--Pittsburgh Post-Gazzette

About the Author

Barry Smith is Professor of Philosophy at the University of London.

Customer Reviews

Background in Philosophy and a Love of Wine
I wouldn't recommend this book unless you are either philosophically minded (i.e. have a background in philosophy) or enjoy scholarly essays. This book is not an introduction to wine, it is not about families in vineyards, about wine lovers and wine-makers sharing their personal tales about wine and the wine experience (although Chapter 10 does focus on Ridge winemaker, Paul Draper and his opinions about wine and wine culture - if you can pick this book up at the library, just read his interview with wine writer Andrew Jefford. It is the most accessible part of the book, revealing the depth and passion of a widely-read, world traveled California winemaker).

If you took a philosophy class in university and didn't enjoy it, I suggest something else. This book is dry, reminiscent of philosophical journals I had to read as an undergraduate. As much as I loved this book, treasured each individual essay, I know it isn't for everyone. The book doesn't focus on grape varieties, doesn't talk about the history of wine, etc...

But again, I loved it. Ten essays, all of them focusing on the philosophical questions circulating around wine appreciation and apprehension. There is discussion about the science of wine, the science of the brain, subjectivity vs. objectivity. If this gets you going, I recommend this book. I found the reading fascinating but slow going, often pausing, putting the book aside over some of the more difficult to grasp concepts. Each essay is worth several reads, if not to enjoy the prose and the arguments but to further dwell on the questions presented. The one question I still come back to: is wine art? Roger Scruton would argue against it as would Tim Crane in this volume. It is a question I often put to my colleagues in the wine industry and the discussion always comes up with something new.

Again, this is a great read, one of my favourites in the literature of wine (The Judgment of Paris by George Taber another) but not for everybody. If you want the challenge and are prepared for it, I say go for it. Others interested in philosophy of wine, check out 'Wine & Philosophy' edited Frit Allhoff... both are great but the latter is suitable for a larger audience.

Questions of Taste is more a question of boring
Recently into wine and on the verge of being a wine geek I found this book not well written and a bit boring. It's a struggle and not worth the price of a hardback wait for the paperback or when it gos to the book store on sale.

Great book!
A very witty and interesting philosophical guide to wine. It's great to see prominent philosophers not just writing about the usual abstractions but considering the serious puzzles that confront wine-lovers: how can we have a shared vocabulary for describing how wine tastes? Is there really such a thing as expertise in wine-tasting? It even has a chapter on intoxication - most writers seem to miss that aspect of wine-drinking! Definitely the most orginal book on wine I've read. I recommend it especially to people interested in the "wine wars" (Robert Parker vs. the Europeans). It helped me think about the underlying issues (though I didn't change sides afterwards!).