Barry C. Smith - Questions Of Taste: The Philosophy Of Wine

Title Page

QUESTIONS OF TASTE

The Philosophy of Wine

Edited by Barry C. Smith

Publisher Information

First published in 2007 by

Signal Books Limited

36 Minster Road Oxford OX4 1LY

www. signalbooks.co.uk

Digital edition converted and distributed in 2013 by

Andrews UK Limited

www.andrewsuk.com

Barry C. Smith and the contributors, 2007

All rights reserved. The whole of this work, including all text and illustrations, is protected by copyright. No parts of this work may be loaded, stored, manipulated, reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information, storage and retrieval system without prior written permission from the publisher, on behalf of the copyright owner.

Cover Design: Baseline Arts Printed in India

Contributors

KENT BACH is a philosopher of mind and language from San Francisco State University who has written extensively on mind and language. He is the author of Thought and Reference (OUP 1994) , and Linguistic Communication and Speech Acts (1979) with Michael Harnish.

STEVE CHARTERS is a Master of Wine who lectures in Wine Studies at Edith Cowan University in Australia. He is the author of Wine and Society: The Social and Cultural Context of a Drink (2006) and the entry on Wine quality in The Oxford Companion to Wine (2006). From 2007 he will be Professor of Champagne Management at Reims Management School.

TIM CRANE is a philosopher of mind and metaphysics at University College, London and Director of the University of Londons Institute of Philosophy. He has written extensively on the philosophy of mind and consciousness. He is author of The Mechanical Mind (Penguin 1997) and Elements of Mind (OUP 2004). He has written on excess in The World of Fine Wine.

OPHELIA DEROY has the agregation in philosophy. She is a member of the Institut Jean Nicod in Paris, and has written articles on metaphysics. She lectures in philosophy of science at the University of Paris XII.

PAUL DRAPER is a graduate in philosophy from Stanford University and chief wine-maker at Ridge Wines, California. He was Decanter Man of the Year in 2001. In 2006 his 1970 Montebello was ranked first in the anniversary tasting of the Judgment of Paris comparison between Bordeaux and Californian wines.

JAMIE GOODE is a trained biochemist and an accomplished wine writer who runs the highly informative website, wineanorak.com. He is the author of Wine Science (2006) for which he won a Glenfiddich Food and Drink Award.

ANDREW JEFFORD is a distinguished wine writer and critic. He has won five Glenfiddich Food and Drink awards, and is the author of the highly acclaimed The New France, and Peat, Smoke and Spirit on Islay whisky.

ADRIENNE LEHRER is a Professor Emerita in the Linguistics Department of Arizona and author of Wine and Conversation (Indiana University Press 1983) in which she analyses the language people use to talk about wine.

GLORIA ORIGGI is a philosopher who specialises in social epistemology. She is a member of the CNRS and the Institut Jean Nicod in Paris. She was a visiting fellow at the Italian Institute at Columbia University, and has published widely on the philosophy of mind, language, and the social transmission of knowledge.

ROGER SCRUTON is a distinguished philosopher and writer, and also wine correspondent for the New Statesman. He has written books on music, art, architecture, Kant and Hegel and is the author of A Guide to Modern Philosophy.

BARRY C. SMITH is a philosopher at the School of Philosophy at Birkbeck College and Deputy Director of the University of Londons Institute of Philosophy. He has held visiting positions at the University of California, Berkeley and the Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris. He edited The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Language (OUP 2006 with E. Lepore) and has written on Wine and Philosophy for The Oxford Companion to Wine (2006).

Foreword

Could this book represent the most fun you can have with wine without drinking a single drop?

Admittedly as a wine writer and one of Oxford s first graduates in maths and philosophy, I might be expected to find a book on philosophy and wine of particular interest, but I must admit that I have not read any philosophy for thirty years so I approached this manuscript with my mind in shamefully untutored state. Yet I found these articles perfectly comprehensible, even quite gripping. I believe that any intelligent wine drinker - and even some teetotal philosophers - will find an enormous amount to savour in the pages that follow

Of course no-one will agree with every word. That is hardly the point of philosophy. But this book is hugely enjoyable and admirably clearly written. I can imagine a legion of wine lovers lapping up its bracing engagement with so many of the topics that concern us all every time we sip a wine or read a tasting note. There is no shortage of good taste, cogent argument, intriguing allusion and above all rich stimulation here. It deserves a wide non-academic readership and should give every bit as much pleasure as a favourite lecturer or particularly treasured wine.

Jancis Robinson London

October 2006

Acknowledgements

The current collection of essays develops ideas originally pursued at an international conference entitled Philosophy and Wine: from Science to Subjectivity , run by the Institute of Philosophy (then The Philosophy Programme) at the University of Londons School of Advanced Study in December 2004. It was the first ever conference on the philosophy of wine, and it brought together scholars, wine writers and wine-makers to discuss philosophy and wine. The success of the conference and subsequent press attention demonstrated the wide interest in the topic. This volume is based on the proceedings of that conference together with additional commissioned essays.

The plans for the conference were conceived at a dinner party held by Jean Hewitson, and it is with deep affection that I would like to thank her for her warmth, generosity and encouragement for this project. At that planning dinner were Jancis Robinson, Nick Lander and Tim Crane, and I would like to thank them for excellent advice and ready enthusiasm. On that occasion we drank Ridge Montebello 1992 and 1993 and Jancis Robinson suggested that we invite Paul Draper to speak at the conference. I am grateful to Paul for participating in the conference and for very generously providing the wines at the dinner that followed. The conference included a tutored tasting of Olivier Leflaives white burgundies, led by Adam Brett Smith of Corney and Barrow, and I would like to thank him for such an informative and engaging talk, and also thank his assistant Laura Taylor for organizing the wines. The red tasting of Ridge wines was led by Paul Draper, and I would like to thank Jasper Morris of Berry Bros, and Rudd for organizing the wines and for his contributions at the conference. Andrew Jefford played an invaluable role at the tastings, stepping in as resident critic and offering his precise and rapier like responses to each wine. I am very grateful to him for treating all who were there to such a display of skill. The complex arrangements for the conference, before and on the day, were conducted in the usual exemplary way under the excellent stewardship of Dr. Shahrar Ali and I would like to offer personal thanks and gratitude to him for all his help. My greatest thanks goes to Michael Dwyer, an exemplary editor whose good sense, sound editorial advice, patience and commitment made this project possible.

The final work on volume was completed in Burgundy and I would like to thank Laurent Glaise, Yann Lioux, Nicolas Potel, Xavier Meney, Vincent Dauvissat, Jean-Claude Rateau, Peter Piouze, Jean-Pierre Cropsal and Ophelia Deroy for generously sharing with me their knowledge, passion and wines.