For centuries, France has long been the world's greatest wine-producing country. Its wines are the global gold standard, prized by collectors, and its winemaking regions each offer unique tasting experiences, from the spice of Bordeaux to the berry notes of the Loire Valley. Although grape variety, climate, and the skill of the winemaker are essential in making good wine, the foundation of a wine's character is the soil in which its grapes are grown. Who could better guide us through the relationship between the French land and the wine than a geologist, someone who deeply understands the...

There's a reason we pay top dollar for Champagne and that bottles of wine from prestige vineyards cost as much as a car: a place's distinct geographical attributes, known as terroir to wine buffs, determine the unique profile of a wine--and some rarer locales produce wines that are particularly coveted. In Volcanoes and Wine, geologist Charles Frankel introduces us to the volcanoes that are among the most dramatic and ideal landscapes for wine making. Traveling across regions well-known to wine lovers like Sicily, Oregon, and California, as well as the less familiar Canary Islands, Frankel...