Fritz Allhoff 
Wine and Philosophy 
A Symposium on Thinking and Drinking

In Wine & Philosophy, philosophers, wine critics, and
winemakers share their passion for wine through well-crafted essays
that explore wine’s deeper meaning, nature, and significance

* Joins Food & Philosophy and Beer &
Philosophy in in the ‘Epicurean Trilogy

* Essays are organized thematically and written by
philosophers, wine writers, and winemakers

* Chapters include, ‘The Art & Culture of Wine’;
‘Tasting & Talking about Wine’; ‘Wine &
Its Critics’; ‘The Beauty of Wine’; ‘The
Metaphysics of Wine’; and ‘The Politics & Economics
of Wine’

* Accessible to a general audience while at the same time
covering some serious philosophical ground

* Incorporates traditional areas of philosophical study,
including philosophy of language, philosophy of perception,
aesthetics, metaphysics, ethics and political philosophy

* A great complimentary text to any guided-tour visit to the
Napa Valley or other wineries

Tabela de Conteúdo

List of Figures viii

Foreword by Paul Draper ix

Acknowledgments xi

Planting the Vines: An Introduction 1

Fritz Allhoff

I The Art & Culture of Wine 13

1 Wine in Ancient Greece: Some Platonist Ponderings 15

Harold Tarrant

2 On and Off the Wagon: Wine and the American Character 30

Jonathon Alsop

3 Muse in a Stem Glass: Art, Wine, and Philosophy 44

Kirsten Ditterich-Shilakes

4 In Vino Sanitas 63

Frederick Adolf Paola

II Tasting & Talking about Wine 79

5 Mmmm . . . not Aha! Imaginative vs. Analytical Experiences of
Wines 81

John Dilworth

6 Talk about Wine? 95

Kent Bach

7 Winespeak or Critical Communication? Why People Talk about
Wine 111

Keith Lehrer and Adrienne Lehrer

III Wine & Its Critics 123

8 What the Wine Critic Tells Us 125

John W. Bender

9 Experiencing Wine: Why Critics Mess Up (Some of the Time)
137

Jamie Goode

IV The Beauty of Wine 155

10 You’ll Never Drink Alone: Wine Tasting and Aesthetic
Practice 157

Douglas Burnham and Ole Martin Skilleås

11 Who Cares If You Like It, This Is a Good Wine Regardless
172

George Gale

12 Listening to the Wine Consumer: The Art of Drinking 186

Steve Charters

V Wine & Metaphysics 203

13 Is There Coffee or Blackberry in My Wine? 205

Kevin W. Sweeney

14 The Soul of Wine: Digging for Meaning 219

Randall Grahm

15 The Notion of Terroir 225

Matt Kramer

VI The Politics & Economics of Wine 235

16 Wine-Tasting Epiphany: An Analysis of the 1976 California vs.
France Tasting 237

Orley Ashenfelter, Richard E. Quandt, and George M.
Taber

17 The Old World and the New: Worlds Apart? 248

Warren Winiarski

18 Taste How Expensive This Is: A Problem of Wine and
Rationality 257

Justin Weinberg

19 Shipping across State Lines: Wine and the Law 275

Drew Massey

Notes on Contributors 288

Index 295

Sobre o autor

Fritz Allhoff, Ph D, is an assistant professor of philosophy at Western Michigan University. He is the co-editor of Food & Philosophy (with Dave Monroe, Blackwell, 2008). He enjoys, especially, Napa and Russian River wines as well as wine travel around the world.