Listed here are books that cover all aspects of the project, from wine to identity to sustainability. It it no way claims to be a comprehensive list. Rather, it is a list of some of the books we’ve found useful or interesting. Many of the books could easily fall into categories other than the ones they’ve been placed in, so be sure to browse. All notes are by Chris, unless specified.
Anthropology / Culture of Wine / History
Black, R. and R. Ulin. 2013. Wine and culture: vineyard to glass. London, Bloomsbury. An edited volume well worth reading.
Demossier, M. 2010. Wine drinking culture in France: a national myth or a modern passion? Cardiff, University of Wales Press.
Lukacs, P. 2012. Inventing wine: a new history of one of the world’s most ancient pleasures. London, W.W. Norton.
Trubek, A. 2008. The taste of place: a cultural journey into terroir. Berkeley, University of California Press. More about the concept of terroir generally, rather than just in the context of wine. By someone trained as both an anthropologist and a a chef; well worth a look.
Biodynamics, Natural Wine
Legeron, I. 2014. Natural wine: an introduction to organic and biodynamic wines made naturally. London, Cico Books. A book on natural wine (as one may guess) from one of its leading proponents.
Steiner, R. 2004. Agriculture course: the birth of the biodynamic method. Forest Row, Rudolf Steiner Press. Where biodynamics started. Should be required reading.
Wine, General and Reference
Bird, D. 2010. Understanding wine technology: the science of wine explained. Newark, UK, DBQA Publishing. Relatively short, but good on explaining technical aspects of wine-making.
Clark, O. and M. Rand. 2010. Grapes and wines: a comprehensive guide to varieties and flavours. NY, Sterling Publishing. The first book I reach for when I want to check out a grape or remind myself about a wine.
Goode, J. and S. Harrop. 2011. Authentic wine: toward a natural and sustainable wine making. Berkeley, University of California Press. In addition to being about natural and sustainable wine-making, this includes nice summaries of key issues in wine-making more generally, and offers a balanced approach to thinking about sustainability, natural wine and so forth.
Hornsey, I. 2007. The chemistry and biology of winemaking. Cambridge, Royal Society of Chemistry. Another quite technical one. I’ve only had a chance to browse this one, but quite useful.
Skelton, S. 2009. Viticulture: an introduction to commercial grape growing for wine production. London. A bit technical for the general reader, perhaps. But very useful for those who want more in-depth knowledge, including those working on their WSET Diploma.