This course explores the material cultures of wine in historical and contemporary contexts. Today, the world produces almost 300 million hectolitres of wine annually and wine is produced and consumed on every inhabited continent. It’s a global industry worth more than 30 billion dollars every year and wine is traditionally valuable as a tangible expression of family, national, and regional identity. Wine is an edible, material commodity, an expression of class status, and considered by many as an integral part of a meal. Through weekly tastings of wine from across the globe, this course considers wine as vital objects of production and consumption and as material landscapes (technologies of transport and vinification, the nature of wine service, and environmental engagements) in order to explore the social, cultural, and political dimensions of drink on a global scale. Students must be of legal drinking age, and will have the option of tasting c. 2-5 oz of wine per class. This course has a mandatory Materials Fee to cover the cost of wine. The fee will be included on students' ACORN invoice. See the Victoria College website for the current amount.