Arguably Johnson’s most enthralling and enduring work, The Story of Wine is one of the essential volumes on every wine student’s curriculum. It tells with wit, scholarship and humour how wine became today’s global phenomenon, varying from mass-produced plonk to rare bottles fetching many thousands. It ranges from Noah to Napa, Pompeii to Prohibition to Pomerol—gripping, anecdotal, personal, controversial and fun.
In his foreword the celebrated historian Andrew Roberts writes: “The genius of The Story of Wine derives from the fact that it is emphatically not a dry-as-dust academic history – there are dozens of those – but an adventure story, full of mysteries, art and culture.” This new edition includes Hugh’s view on the changes wine has seen in the past 30 years. It’s a cast-iron classic.