From Terrain to Brain: Forays into the Many Sciences of Wine

Erika Szymanski

Nov 2023 · Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by Amy Landon

About this audiobook

In From Terrain to Brain, Professor Erika Szymanski makes wine science accessible to non-experts. Rather than approach wine science as body of facts about wine, Szymanski explores how wine science can open up multiple ways of seeing, understanding, and appreciating wine. Too often, wine science is presented as a comprehensive body of knowledge that enthusiasts aiming to become experts should memorize. This book instead uses scientific research to explore wine as an endlessly rich cultural phenomenon. By foregrounding recent research and developments in wine science, From Terrain to Brain presents wine science as a work-in-progress rather than a codified body of knowledge. Each chapter takes listeners on a journey or "foray" through a topic in wine science, such as minerality, climate, microbiome, and yeast. Chapters are organized from "terrain" (geography, terroir, soil) and cell "membrane" (microbiology) through "brain" (the experience of tasting) and "drain" (sustainability). Throughout, From Terrain to Brain emphasizes that wine science, wine culture, and tradition are interconnected and places scientific research in social and historical context.

About the author

Erika Szymanski is an assistant professor of rhetoric of science at Colorado State University. After earning B.S. and M.S. degrees in microbiology, she earned an M.A. in English rhetoric and composition, followed by a PhD in science communication from the University of Otago.

Amy Landon is a classically trained actress with numerous off-Broadway, film, and television credits. Her voice can also be heard on many television and radio commercials. She has an easy facility with dialects, and she is happy to find that her lifelong obsession with books is matching up with her acting and vocal work.