The Earliest Evidence of wine dates back to the neolithic age, and over the intervening 9,000 years it has been integrated into the broad sweep of history-never ceasing to be controversial. Wine has been embraced by some religions and rejected by others. It has been considered beneficial to health and happiness while being blamed for disease and social disorder. It remains widely consumed at both religious and secular celebrations and as part of the daily diet. 9000 Years of Wine tells the story of wine from ancient times, through the Middle Ages, and across periods of revolution and war in the modern era as it spread from Asia to Europe and then to the wider world. Rod Phillips explores wine's association with different social classes and genders, and plots trends in consumption and connoisseur-ship. He traces the history of wine as a source of pleasure, an object of anxiety, and a divisive cultural product. Book jacket.