A HISTORY OF WINE

Wine and its history reveals both a society and its time.
In this overview, Didier Nourrisson retraces the history of
wine by taking the consumer as his reference point
rather than the producer.

In a sweeping overview that extends from ancient times to the present, Didier Nourrisson, a historian specializing in food and gastronomy, draws up a lively and colorful history of wine. More than just a fermented product derived from grapes, wine is a revealer of a society and its time. It forges links among people and constitutes a social marker as well as an economic, cultural and, more recently, a public health issue.

Using an approach based on the consumer's viewpoint rather than the producer's – the latter is the more traditional perspective – Nourrisson investigates the evolution of customs and the modifications of wine itself. And indeed, the wine of antiquity and the way it was consumed have nothing to do with modern wine. With his history of wine, Didier Nourrisson has illuminated, with verve, a still undeveloped historiographical field.

A professor of history (University of Lyon 1, School of Pedagogy and Education), Didier Nourrisson continues his research on dietary behaviors and health policies (20 books in 30 years). His latest books on the subject: Crus et cuites. Histoire du buveur (A History of the drinker, Perrin, 2013); Au péché mignon. Histoire des femmes qui consomment jusqu'à l'excès (Guilty pleasure. A History of women who consume to excess, Payot, 2013); and with Stéphane Frioux, Propre et sain. Un siècle d'hygiène à l'école (Clean and healthy. A century of hygiene at school, Armand Colin, 2015).