The true wine lover is a rare breed. He doesn’t pontificate, instead he asks questions and reflects. When faced with a pompous connoisseur who rambles on about the smell of violets or the viscera of dead hare, he shuts his eyes so he can sip and taste undisturbed. His love of wine is what motives him. Which of the two categories do you belong to, reader? Are you a true lover of Bordeaux or a connoisseur of burgundy? What is it that you like about wine? Is it the knowledge that surrounds it or the pleasure it affords? Is it the prestige of a label or the authenticity of its origin? What do all these categories really stand for? The mythology of wine is examined and deciphered in loving detail.

Claude Fischler is a sociologist and researcher at France’s Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique. He is the author of the L’Omnivore, a study on eating habits, which is regarded as a classic.