Wine Blogger Goes Political
It was only a matter of time before someone wrote the book on Wine & Politics; on the political machinations that help determine who will make money on wine by controlling how it is made, how it it sold and how it is consumed. The only question was who would write.
That would be Dr. Vino.
Not scheduled to hit the shelves until spring of next year, "Wine Politics: How Governments, Environmentalists, Mobsters and Critics Influence the Wines We Drink", appears by its title to take a broad view of what constitutes "politics". This is I think the only way to approach this subject.
The book is an extension of Tyler Colman’s dissertation on a very similar subject and includes further research and likely some removal of the scholarly elements and language that tend to make up a dissertation.
While I hope Tyler’s effort finds a wider audience, I suspect it will be a book that particularly fascinates those in the wine industry, those who regulate it, those who drink the majority of wine, the environmentalists that deal with the consequences of the growth of vineyards and the mobsters that have attempted to control the wine industry for decades.
What’s really fascinating about the nexus of politics and wine is how the issues that surround wine can be applied to any number of important political issues and trends that have helped define the United States. Whether you are discussing federalism, active state liberalism, civil rights, commerce and the constitution, environmentalism and individual rights or Progressivism, you can use wine to explore these topics.
I’m looking forward to Tyler’s book.
I am glad to see the diversity of the subject matter of the new wine books being published. From the two recent books on wine & philosophy to this new book on politics & wine. I think there are other untapped topics that may now see the light as the interest in such books grows. I too look forward to reading this one.