I want to take this opportunity to wish all my readers well for 2022.  I hope it brings you health and safety, so good wines – and also a chance to reflect further on what wine means for all of us.

An extra celebration for me at the end of 2021 in my professional role.  Just before Christmas I submitted the final proofed copy to the publishers Routledge of a ‘Handbook of Wine and Culture’.  This is an edited work that I have been the co-ordinating editor of, working alongside six friends and colleagues, which explores the relationship of wine (consumption, production and intermediation) from a range of perspectives.  With my co-editors we cover the disciplines of Anthropology, Sociology, Geography, History, Economics, Business and Literature and Text.  It’s been a huge undertaking, with 44 chapters and 57 authors – and will weigh in at more than 500 pages.  It should appear this spring. It won’t be for the faint-hearted, and certainly not easy bedtime reading, but it’s a comprehensive and fascinating study for those who are really keen on the subject.

In any event, best wishes to all…

Steve