From Terrain to Brain: Forays into the Many Sciences of Wine

Summary

In From Terrain to Brain, Professor Erika Szymanski makes wine science accessible to non-experts. Rather than approach wine science as body of facts about wine, Szymanski explores how wine science can open up multiple ways of seeing, understanding, and appreciating wine.

Too often, wine science is presented as a comprehensive body of knowledge that enthusiasts aiming to become experts should memorize. This book instead uses scientific research to explore wine as an endlessly rich cultural phenomenon. By foregrounding recent research and developments in wine science, From Terrain to Brain presents wine science as a work-in-progress rather than a codified body of knowledge.

Each chapter takes listeners on a journey or "foray" through a topic in wine science, such as minerality, climate, microbiome, and yeast. Chapters are organized from "terrain" (geography, terroir, soil) and cell "membrane" (microbiology) through "brain" (the experience of tasting) and "drain" (sustainability). Throughout, From Terrain to Brain emphasizes that wine science, wine culture, and tradition are interconnected and places scientific research in social and historical context.