The Botanist and the Vintner: How Wine Was Saved for the World

by Christy Campbell

Overview

In the mid-1860s, grapevines in southeastern France inexplicably began to wither and die. Jules-Émile Planchon, a botanist from Montpellier, was sent to investigate. He discovered that the vine roots were covered in microscopic yellow insects. What they were and where they had come from was a mystery. The infestation advanced with the relentlessness of an invading army and within a few years had spread across Europe, from Portugal to the Crimea. The wine industry was on the brink of disaster. The French government offered a prize of three hundred thousand gold francs for a remedy. Planchon believed he had the answer and set out to prove it.

Gripping and intoxicating, The Botanist and the Vintner brings to life one of the most significant, though little-known, events in the history of wine.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781565125285
Publisher:	Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
Publication date:	03/24/2006
Pages:	344
Product dimensions:	5.19(w) x 7.98(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

CHRISTY CAMPBELL is a British writer and journalist. He has written for the Telegraph since 1990. The Botanist and the Vintner won the 2005 Glenfiddich Food and Drink Award.

Editorial Reviews

Ecology, politics, and free-market economics collide in this brisk and surprisingly modern tale of scientific sleuthing.

From the Publisher

An engrossing read. And certainly it is information every wine lover should know, making it perhaps the wine book of the year to absorb and consider.

San Antonio Express-News

A taut, suspense-filled account.”

The New York Times

A true-life detective story ripe for the writing.”

Los Angeles Times

A must-read.

Wine Spectator

Ecology, politics, and free-market economics collide in this brisk and surprisingly modern tale of scientific sleuthing.

Entertainment Weekly