Il Vino: Undici Conferenze Fatte Nell'inverno Dell'anno 1880

This 1890 collection gathers eleven lectures delivered in the winter of 1880 by a remarkable assembly of Italian scientists and literary figures. They approach wine not as sommeliers but as cultural historians, physicians, and mythologists, each contributing their expertise to a sprawling portrait of humanity's oldest obsession. The opening lecture by Arturo Graf traces wine's divine origins across Greek, Roman, and ancient Mediterranean cultures, unspooling the myths that positioned the grape as a gift from the gods. Subsequent lectures venture into the technical: the chemistry of fermentation, the geography of viticulture, wine's role in medicine and religious ritual, its place at the tables of power and the altars of worship. What emerges is not a handbook for collectors but a meditation on how a fermented fruit has shaped civilization itself. The writing carries the leisurely confidence of late-Victorian erudition, when scholars could still treat wine as a subject worthy of deep, unhurried inquiry. For readers drawn to the cultural history of food and drink, or anyone curious how the ancients understood the mysterious power of the vine.