Divine Vintage: Following the Wine Trail from Genesis to the Modern Age

Butler, a beverage professional, and Heskett, a biblical scholar, jointly examine the connections between oenology and the oldest texts in the Western canon, primarily the Bible, and the results are fascinating but uneven. In the first half, the authors sift evidence from such diverse fields as archeology and meteorology and parse various Greek, Persian, and Sumerian classic texts, particularly Old Testament patriarchs like Noah and Moses and prophets like Elijah and Isaiah. They decode hieroglyphics and biblical scholarship and explore ancient wine culture both medical and magical along with aspects directly related to trade and religion. Shifting now and then to look at how wine and winemaking evolved, the authors chronicle the beverage’s role in imperial Rome and during early Christianity. The book’s latter half examines the current state of winemaking in those same, ancient and much-beleaguered regions today, providing tasting notes for such exotic bottlings as Turkish Fumé Blanc and Jordanian Viognier along with established producers like Lebanon’s Chateau Musar before turning to the not-entirely-ironic question: what would Jesus drink? If only some of that humor had more fully mixed into the often dry first half of the book, the results could have been a more lively read. (Nov.)