A Little Wine History...

“Wine A Cultural History”

 By John Varriano, 2010

“Bordeaux/Burgundy: A Vintage Rivalry”

By Jean-Robert Pitte, 2012

“Reading Between The Wines: With a New Preface”

By Terry Theise, 2011

These three sources I was most interested by because they all focus on certain different aspects of wine and how it came to be, and I believe to all be important when it comes to the blogs we see today. However, I am getting ahead of myself, “Wine A Cultural History” by John Varriano, looks into how far wine has come through the pre-historic times through the civilizations of ancient Greece and Rome, the early years of Christianity, its Reformation, and eventually to today.

The second source that caught my eye was “Bordeaux/Burgundy: A Vintage Rivalry” by Jean-Robert Pitte, which focuses on how different two wines can be even if they are in the same country. It also touches on how profound these two wines are from these two different regions benefit the land and the people by preserving the agricultural traditions of local wines. Considering France invented local wines, they must have a handle on their pairings.

As for the third source, “Reading Between The Wines: With a New Preface” by Terry Theise, I found this one to be the most relatable because he begins with his own experience with wine and what he has tried, where he has traveled, and how he has grown in his taste. Theise talks about Old wines, New wines, what wine does for us on a spiritual level, and what matters and what does not when it comes to wine.

Now, when relating these to the online sources we have available now, they are only available to us now because of the information that has been collected over the years. We would not know the history, or varietals of wine if sources similar to these had not collected this information. Without that there would be no blogs today, and they would not be as short and sweet as they are because most people now just want that quick easy knowledge boost. No one wants to sit down and read a novel to know what to pair with their branzino for dinner. I have looked into a few of these blogs for the quick answer to what these historical sources have prepared us for. 

The first blog I looked into, “The Charming History Behind Why We Pair Wine With Cheese”, by Jeff Flowers complies just about everything you could want for a quick history on wine and wine pairing. This includes, how the regions influence cheese pairings, the anecdotes of history, and the science behind wine and cheese. The second, “How to Pair Wine and Food like an Expert, Every Time”, by Kim Myers is all in the title, how to pair what characteristics of wine with what characteristics with food and so on. These online sources may not be exact equivalents of the sources I found, but they use what these original sources have delved into for us to get the ‘stuff’ we are really looking for and put it into a short and sweet version that gets to the point. I believe blogs today have improved of receiving the information that people are really looking for quickly and efficiently. Yes, the books still hold worthwhile value, however, when someone wants to learn something quickly, or for the purpose of knowing what to drink with dinner, a blog is the way to receive that information.