Pressing Matters
By Alan Ramey

An insider's look at the key issues facing the wine world in the 21st centuryA primer for anyone interested in this vital drink, whether an armchair drinker or someone in the industryControversial and polemic, yet also filled in science, evidence and logicWill become a wine book classicPressing Matters explains the fundamental debates in wine, from terroir, production and farming, to tasting, wine's cultural significance and the economic value of wine. By focusing on wine through the prism of the key fights within each topic, the book presents readers with a story that includes the messiness, human fragility and disagreement about core principles that so often gets skipped at the outset of wine knowledge. The book fairly showcases all sides of the most important debates in wine today, giving the available evidence as well as commenting on what we don't know. Aimed at those just starting on their wine journey, Pressing Matters is a lively and thoroughly researched history of all the key current wine controversies, written by an author with wine making in his blood, who knows the wine business from the inside.- Lays out the key current wine controversies in a way that is easily accessible for the non-scientist and those new to wine literature.- Examines the evidence from experts on both sides of each argument to allow readers to make up their own minds on current hot topics in wine.- Goes behind the label to explain the buzz words, trends and wine speak used by the wine media.- Helps readers see clearly today's bigger wine picture in order to make better informed wine-buying decisions.- Author is active within the wine scene in California and beyond, and a popular speaker at wine events.