Questions of Taste: The Philosophy of Wine
by Barry C Smith (Editor)
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Description
Interest in wine has steadily increased in recent years, with people far more sophisticated about wine than they used to be. 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, show more this book applies their critical and analytical skills toanswer--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 wine's "suppleness" or "brawniness" - really mean anything at all? Can twopeople taste one wine in the same way? Does a wine expert enjoy wine more than a novice? 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 highly acclaimed 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 theeveryday. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
A collection of essays by different authors on various philosophical topics related to wine: the effect of information on evaluation, the metaphorical language of sensory description, the status of wine as a work of art, etc. Several of the essays are excellent and gave me a lot to contemplate. A few were a bit overwrought or lazily thought out (perhaps the subject was a bit too close at hand during the writing). The book concludes with an interview with winemaker/philosopher Paul Draper of Ridge Vineyards, which provides a wonderfully specific counterpoint to the abstractions which preceded it.
The non-philosophers are more interesting than the philosophers.
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- Popularity
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- Reviews
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- (3.00)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 4
- ASINs
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