Bottoms Up! The Story of Wine, Its Rituals & This new, light-
hearted talk examines the history of wine, an elixir that has
sustained much of humanity for almost 10,000 years. Essentially
little more than fermented grape juice, this extraordinary and
contradictory liquid has caused wars and riots, has helped to
broker peace and most commonly, served as an aphrodisiac. It has
been personified in the form of Gods and been the principal
catalyst in civilised entertaining and dining rituals. Wine is
based on ethanol, a potent alcoholic poison and depressant. Yet,
when consumed in moderation, its effects are liberating,
euphoric and positively beneficial to our physical health. What
do we do when we drink too much and feel bad the following
morning? Swallow another glass of it to make us feel better!
traces the story of wine: from its humble beginnings in rotting
grapes before the Bronze Age to the present when single bottles
can change hands thousands, even tens of thousands of pounds. It
examines the extraordinar