A glass of wine is the simplest of pleasures - elixir of love, soothing balm, forger of friendships and, according to novelist Ernest Hemingway, the greatest sensory enjoyment you can buy. Yet wine is also an enigma - the product of good fruit gone bad, an edgy mosaic of smells, tastes and even textures, and a huge international business with fierce rivalries.

In this alluring book, leading New Zealand wine writer John Saker takes you on a personal voyage to the heart of the matter. Learn about wine's strange aromas, how the shape of a glass can change the taste, peculiar practices in wineries, glorious personalities, who decides if a wine is a winner, and secrets of the trade.