This essential and groundbreaking reference gives a comprehensive overview of one of the most fascinating, important, and controversial trends in the world of wine: the scientific and technological innovations that are now influencing how grapes are grown and how wine is made. Jamie Goode, a widely respected authority on wine science, details the key scientific developments relating to viticulture and enology, explains the practical application of science to techniques that are used around the world, and explores how these issues are affecting the quality, flavor, and perception of wine. The only complete resource available on the subject, The Science of Wine: From Vine to Glass engagingly discusses a wide range of topics including terroir, biodynamics, the production of “natural” or manipulation-free wines, the potential effect of climate change on grape growing, the health benefits of wine, and much more.

* Covers some of the most hotly debated issues including genetically modified grape vines, sulphur dioxide, the future of cork, and wine flavor chemistry

* More than 100 illustrations and photographs make even the most complex topics clear, straightforward, and easy to understand

* Engagingly written for a wide audience of students, winemakers, wine professionals, and general readers interested in the science of wine

Why Wine Science

Section One In the Vineyard
1 The biology of the grape vine
2 Terroir: how do soils and climate shape wine?
3 Precision viticulture
4 Global warming: its implications for viticulture
5 GM vines
6 Phylloxera
7 Lutte raisonée and IPM
8 Biodynamics
9 PRD and regulated deficit irrigation
10 Pruning, trellising systems, and canopy management

Section Two In the Winery
11 Naturalness in wines: how much manipulation is acceptable?
12 Micro-oxygenation
13 Barrels and the impact of oak on wine
14 Reverse osmosis, spinning cones and evaporators: alcohol reduction and must concentration
15 Sulphur dioxide
16 Reduction: volatile sulphur compounds
17 Microbes and wine: yeasts and lactic-acid bacteria
18 Brettanomyces
19 Corks, screwcaps, and alternative closures

Section Three Our Interaction with Wine
20 Flavour and its perceptions: taste and smell in wine tasting
21 Wine and the brain: making sense of flavour
22 Wine-flavour chemistry
23 Wine and health
24 Wine allergies
25 Extending lifespan by drinking wine

Concluding Remarks
Glossary
Bibliography
Index and Acknowledgements

Jamie Goode, a member of the UK Circle of Wine Writers and a former scientific editor, is wine writer for the Sunday Express, wine columnist with The Western Mail, and a regular contributor to Harpers, Decanter, and Wine International. In 2000 he established the consumer-oriented website www.wineanorak.com, one of the world’s most visited wine sites. He is a finalist for the Louis Roederer Award for International Wine Writer 2005.

“I learnt a humbling amount from Goode’s book, however, and by no means all of it scientific.”— Jancis Robinson,Financial Times

“Thorough, fascinating, and comprehensive. . . . A perfect mix of science and humanity, not unlike wine itself.”—Gastronomica: Jrnl of Food & Culture

You could read this book cover to cover; you can just as well dip into particular chapters as the mood strikes you, or when some wine geek drops a string of terms you aren’t familiar with. Either way, if you want to understand the science behind what’s in your glass, this is the place to go.—Vinography

“The best book ever addressed to amateurs on the complicated,and these days sometimes contentious, technical aspects of wine. Jamie Goode is well informed, clear, simple, and lively. In fact, he sets a high standard so high that it would be hard to beat by a writer on any subject. ”—The Art of Eating

“Mr. Goode has written one of the most enlightening and clearheaded wine books to appear in years. What’s more, he’s taken on a subject fraught with eye-glazing complexities and distilled it into a 216-page book that is a model of clarity and concision . . . If you have any interest in wine, anything that goes beyond, say, the verbiage on the back label of a bottle, you’ll find that . . . this is a wine book you’ll actually read and reread.”—Matt Kramer, New York Sun

“Mr. Goode has written one of the most enlightening and clearheaded wine books to appear in years. What’s more, he’s taken on a subject fraught with eye-glazing complexities and distilled it into a 216-page book that is a model of clarity and concision . . . If you have any interest in wine, anything that goes beyond, say, the verbiage on the back label of a bottle, you’ll find that . . . this is a wine book you’ll actually read and reread.”—New York Sun

“I promise that unless you are already a trained enologist and viticulturist, no one will read this book and not learn a great many things. Moreover, it’s been a long time since I picked up a wine book of any stripe and learned as much as I did and had as entertaining a time doing it. In short, buy it-you’ll thank me.”—Allen Meadows, Burghound

“he is a good writer who can make complex subjects accessible and interesting to a wide variety of readers. . . . For many readers this may be the most important book they will read all year.”—Wine East

“This book is fabulous, simply fabulous. . . . The author has done a top notch job of explaining to all wine drinkers just how much science already shapes what is in every wine bottle. He does a masterful job of detailing how much we know and where the research frontiers are located. This superb book is a must for all wine drinkers. Buy this book.”—California Grapevine

“An excellent reference work and, once you’re in, a very interesting read.”—Decanter

“In a conversational style, Goode investigates every current major technical issue about wine and some philosophical ones as well. . . .Easy to swallow.”—W. Blake Gray, San Francisco Chronicle

“A fantastic job presenting balanced, approachable yet technical essays on many of the major issues in winemaking and appreciation. . . . Goode’s readable prose makes even the most technical subjects accessible. For anyone interested in more than just drinking wine, this is a must read.”—Wine Enthusiast

“Winemaking these days is a complicated process that cannot always be understood intuitively. Fortunately Jamie Goode’s new book The Science of Wine: From Vine to Glass explains some of the terms that critics toss around. . . .Mr. Goode manages to make them lively and provocative.”—Eric Asimov, New York Times

"The Science of Wine does an outstanding job of integrating 'hard' science about wine with the emotional aspects that make wine appealing."—Patrick J. Mahaney, former senior Vice President for wine quality at Robert Mondavi Winery

“Jamie Goode is a rarity in the wine world: a trained scientist who can explain complicated subjects without dumbing them down or coming over like a pointy head. It also helps that he’s a terrific writer with a real passion for his subject.”—Tim Atkin MW, The Observer

Glenfiddich Drink Book of the Year Award 2006, Glenfiddich

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