The Geography of Wine: How Landscapes, Cultures, Terroir, and the Weather Make a Good Drop

by Brian J. Sommers

Wine is more than taste, smell, and appearance—it is a reflection of a place and its people. Why is Bordeaux a great place for red wines? Why do some places produce Rieslings and others produce Chardonnay? A fun and fascinating examination of terroir (the French word for the geography of a vineyard) this book takes connoisseurs—and potential connoisseurs—on a tour of wine regions, and explains the principles geographers use to understand the critical factors that make up the “wine character” of a place. From the Loire Valley to Napa Valley, Madeira to South Africa, Australia to Chile, The Geography of Wine is an entertaining and informative introduction to viticulture for worldly wine lovers everywhere.

Genres: Wine, Nonfiction, Food, Geography

304 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2007

Reviews

[Peter Corrigan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good overview into the geographic factors involved in wine production. Not just physical geography but cultural, political, economic and probably other aspects of the discipline I am omitting. This guy is a committed fan (actually a professor at Central Connecticut University in 2008, and apparently still is according to ratemyprofessors.com!) of both geography and wine and he does a nice job of laying out the basics in viticulture and its many aspects with a geographical spin. Basically at an introductory level for the most part but still quite interesting. So many great wine 'places' to visit and so much to learn!

[Lindsey Duncan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book - an entertaining, sometimes humorous, look at the impact of physical and cultural geography on viticulture and wine. This is not, however, a heavy, academic text that requires slow reading ... instead, Sommers builds his concepts with clear metaphors and down-to-earth language. Each chapter does a great job of looking at the geographic forces that influence wine, and each chapter presents a specific, concrete example in conclusion. It's genuinely a fun read.

If I have one complaint, however, it's that I felt this book just scratched the surface - make that the topsoil - of its subject matter. Just when the details begin to get really interesting, we're on to the next chapter. Still, I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is interested in a global overview of how all these systems work together.

[Mariusz Franciszek · Rating 1 out of 5]

Any comparison to other books on the topic would be mean. This is a collection of obvious facts, known to any person enjoying some basic education, and all of them are repeated again and again every few pages. There is little to be learned from the book, maybe except for some surprising discoveries, like that about Greeks writing in the Cyrillic alphabet...

[Scott Lord · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good primer on the geography of wine

[Les Reynolds · Rating 4 out of 5]

I quite enjoyed learning about all the different geographical locations where wine in grown. I love filling in the details around things like this.

[Nikki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for a novice on wine and the wine industry! Helped me understand a lot.

[Garrett Haynes · Rating 4 out of 5]

A different perspective on wine from a geographer. Probably wouldn't be able to make it through this book unless you are really interested in wine but if you are it's worth a read and it is not too long. Not overly technical it does provide you a general idea of why wine is grown in certain regions and not others and how it traveled around the globe. Terroir is an important concept in wine and for winemakers transcends it's literal definition of "soils". For all its negatives colonialism was responsible for the spread of wine production around the world so for that we can be thankful. In the end wine is about enjoyment so raise a glass and savor every drop (or if it's awful pour it down the drain and find a better bottle).

[Phil · Rating 1 out of 5]

Only fair. Good information on the terroir of wine, but writing style is dry as dust. Not that it's too technical, but there's just too much information unless you're studying enology at UC Davis. For the average wine enthusiast, could have been an interesting long article or monograph. Also, a few fuzzy but irrelevant B&W photos, but not one map - in a geography book!!!

[Debbie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had a difficult time getting through this book. While the structure of the book is unique--based on geographic themes such as climate, urbanization--it made for a lot of repeated material and a disjointed storyline. Also, the book could have been much shorter, I got the sense it was being stretched out.

[Peter]

Breaks understanding Wine Geography into 4 categories:

1)Environmental studies
2) Human Ecology
3)regional study
4) spatial analysis

These 4 categories derived from Journal of Geography article writtne in 1964 by William Pattison.

Good premise, more as I read on...

[Kate M]

Eh. Not a fan. I read Red, White and Drunk All Over by Natalie MacLean just before starting this, so it was a huge disappointment. Very dry (not a good dry like wine itself) and lifeless writing.

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

I couldn't get past the first couple chapters, it just wasn't interesting to me after all.