Educational Media Reviews Online

This DVD spends an entire year at the Argiano Winery in Tuscany, where five varieties of red wine are produced, ranging from high-medium to top quality. The winery is owned by the Countess Cinzano, who features briefly in the film.

The bulk of the film’s scenes focus on the work of the winery’s enologist, Hans Vinding-Diers, who explains in detail what he and his assistants do in the course of the year, beginning in the dead of winter, to realize wines of distinction. The vines must be carefully tended to maximize growth in the lower part of the plant, where nutrients from the soil will concentrate, and to minimize the chances of grape diseases and pests to establish themselves. Recently the winery has begun to adopt the principles of biodynamics, to lessen the need for chemical fertilizers and pesticides.

This film is a fascinating introduction to how winemaking is done, offering insights into how a skill can combine aspects of science and art into a seamless whole.

Highly recommended for college and university collections dealing with food science.