Wine is more than a beverage. Like great works of art, great wines have originality, dynamism, emotional resonance, and personality. Discover how wine can be so expressive in this remarkable philosophical romp through the aesthetics of wine production and wine appreciation. Previous work on the philosophy of wine has shown wine to be an important source of aesthetic experiences. “Beauty and the Yeast” takes this argument in surprising new directions. It analyzes wine as an expressive, living organism that challenges our assumptions about creativity, beauty, good taste, and objectivity and explains why the changing landscape of wine requires that we rethink the role of established wine traditions. The book offers unique philosophical insights into the nature of wine appreciation, wine language, and wine criticism, and explores a novel approach to wine tasting that reveals our emotional attachment to wine. After reading, you will never taste wine the same way again. Furrow is a professor with a wine critic itching to get out, and it's notable how he describes the duty of a wine critic: "The primary purpose of wine criticism is to aid in the appreciation of a wine by revealing what is there to be appreciated." It seems that writing the book is his attempt to fulfill this purpose for the entire world of wine." Blake Gray, Wine Searcher "Wine? What's the big deal?" It's a question my own books have striven to answer, in my intuitive, barely-educated way, but in place of my lyric entreaties, Furrow has constructed a splendid cartography of thought that answers that question explicitly, thoroughly and at length." Terry Theise, A Word to the Wines This book emerged from a puzzling personal experience. For most of my adult life, I have been thinking and writing about issues that deeply touch everyone's life—moral values, free will, autonomy, and the fate of civilization. These are important issues, hard issues. Thinking about them inexorably leads to drinking more wine because they are, well, important and hard. The more wine I drank the more fascinating wine became and I felt compelled to write about it. So here we are. I still ponder the fate of civilization but only after taking notes on the latest pinot noir to cross my desk. Why would an academic contemplating the origin and justification of moral values feel a need to think about something as inconsequential as wine? I suppose the alcohol might be disrupting my good judgment, but I remain fascinated by wine even when stone-cold sober. I set out to discover the source of that fascination. After roughly one thousand winery visits, conversations with hundreds of winemakers, extensive travel through wine regions in North America and Europe, and countless wine samples, I think I have the answer. However, only the reader can make that final judgment. Dwight Furrow is Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at San Diego Mesa College in San Diego, California. He received his Ph.D. in Philosophy from University of California, Riverside in 1993 and specializes in the philosophy of food and wine, aesthetics, and ethics. Although he has written on many topics in philosophy, more recently he has been puzzled by the latest Pinot Noir to cross his desk. He is certified by the Society of Wine Educators and owns an advanced level certification from WSET. (Wine and Spirits Educational Trust) Professor Furrow is the author of Edible Arts, a blog devoted to food and wine aesthetics; Roving Decanter, a food, wine, and travel blog; and is a monthly contributor to Three Quarks Daily. He is also written many books and professional journal articles about ethics and social philosophy. When not teaching, Dwight and his wife Lynn travel throughout the U.S. and the world looking for interesting wine and food experiences.