A Review of “Eating Together: Food, Friendship, and Inequality”

Paul Cohen to document the complicated construction of natural wine in France. By examining the work of Jules Chauvet, a founder of the natural wine movement, Cohen exposes the myriad of interventions necessary to create a wine that can be called natural. Chauvet is shown to constitute, through his decision making, a unique humanistic concept of nature, one that is appropriate to its time and place. Together, this volume places two of the most seductive narratives of wine culture, its relationship to the natural world and its ascension as an artisan object, under unprecedented scrutiny, leaving the reader with some surprising results. Rather than denuding wine, the close attention paid to the way wine moves through concrete lives, and the nuanced way the concept of culture is handled by these anthropologists, reveals wine to be a capable storyteller, even after the fetish it acquired in the marketplace is dispelled. Wine and Culture: Vineyard to Glass opens new conversations. It is recommended to both wine enthusiasts and trades people because of the productive way it complicates what is known of tradition, terroir, and good taste. Food and wine scholars will welcome the detail and depth of the studies included, especially in the areas and markets which have been less examined by wine literature. This book also makes a substantial contribution to the anthropology of contemporary foodways, as well as serving as a good introduction to the difficult job of the anthropologist today. By showing both wine and culture in a state of transition, it will force undergraduate students to re-examine key concepts in the social sciences and help more advanced researchers to re-tool their methods, as each seeks to better understand the role culture, cultural symbols, and commodities play in our globally interconnected world.