the student seeking to gain deeper insight into the structure and economics of the industry as well as into the various trends and pressures which are currently affecting it. Go to any bookstore, and you will find a myriad of guides to the wines of the world. Interesting as such books are to wine lovers, these volumes leave many gaps. The aim of this book is to fill those gaps and to provide a global overview of wine as a business. While it is still possible to drive through Provence, Napa Valley or Mendoza unearthing the odd case of undiscovered nectar, the real backbone of today's wine industry lies elsewhere. It is that backbone - its structure and complex functions - that is examined in detail in The Business of Wine.