Wine Liberated
The Ecological Revolution and the Vintners Inspiring Change
Over the last eighty years, wine has developed into a global monoculture—but an eclectic group of vintner rebels are redefining the culture and creation of wine.
Just a few varieties of a single species of grape dominate the wine market: Millions of acres of Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and a few others grow across many countries on nearly every continent. When you think of wine, what you probably think of is a product of colonial capitalism and sustained by pesticides.
What might wine become when we free ourselves from the belief that our current idea of wine is the highest and best version that it can be? Since 2019, Adam L. Huss, winemaker and host of the popular podcast Beyond Organic Wine, has been seeking out, interviewing, and learning from a revolutionary group of producers who are pushing wine beyond the boundaries of the industry’s hegemony. Wine Liberated explores the big questions about what wine is and what it can become when it’s ecologically minded, diverse, and even more delicious.
“This extraordinary book turns every aspect of the modern wine world on its head. . . . Huss exposes centuries of prejudice, narrow-mindedness, and self-interest that shaped the way we think about wine today . . . [and] seeks out the iconoclasts and free thinkers who are moving the conversation forward.”
—Simon J. Woolf, author of Amber Revolution
“A provocative and inspiring look at wine beyond convention. Adam Huss challenges us to rethink the relationship between fermentation, ecology, and place, opening the door to a richer and more diverse vision of what wine can become.”
—Pascal Baudar, author of The Wildcrafting Brewer
Reviews & Praise
“Our imagination and thinking guides our actions, which create the farms and the wines that we see in the world. In Wine Liberated, Adam Huss casts a spell of ecological beauty that will cause the reader (and wine drinker!) to yearn for what we can create. A sensory treat!”—Mark Shepard, founder, New Forest Farm; author of Restoration Agriculture
“A provocative and inspiring look at wine beyond convention. Adam Huss challenges us to rethink the relationship between fermentation, ecology, and place, opening the door to a richer and more diverse vision of what wine can become.”—Pascal Baudar, fermentation educator; author of The Wildcrafting Brewer
“Wine has always been more than a libation; it is an expression of place, culture, and our relationship with the living world. In Wine Liberated, Adam Huss invites us to reconsider not only what wine is, but what it might become when we embrace diversity, ecological resilience, and imagination. This is an expansive, hopeful, and deeply engaging exploration of wine’s evolving culture—one that reminds us that the most meaningful revolutions begin by changing the questions we ask.”—Deirdre Heekin, winemaker, Domaine La Garagista
“Even as vineyards are being ripped out across California and France, the hybrid grapes once dismissed by much of the wine world are quietly finding new life. Huss is writing into that contradiction. What stays with me from this book isn’t any single argument, but the people behind it. The growers, farmers, and winemakers in these pages talk about wine the way farmers talk about land, not the way wine is often discussed from a distance. This is a book built from listening rather than advocacy, and it asks timely questions about the future of wine without pretending to have simple answers.”—Matt Niess, owner and winemaker, North American Press
“This extraordinary book turns every aspect of the modern wine world on its head. Adam L. Huss exposes centuries of prejudice, narrow-mindedness and self-interest that shaped the way we think about wine today. But this is not a crazed polemic. It overflows with positivity and solutions. Huss seeks out the iconoclasts and free thinkers who are moving the conversation forward. He draws on decades of his own experience as both practitioner and observer, painting a fresh new vision of what wine could and should be. That he achieves all this in such a clear-headed, rational manner is truly impressive.”—Simon J. Woolf, wine writer, The Morning Claret; author of Amber Revolution
"Wine Liberated is for anyone who drinks wine, but more important, for those who know change is needed today. For those willing to question their own beliefs and embrace new ideas, or perhaps revisit old ones, this book could help us herald a new, more sustainable wine future.
Thank you, Adam, for this much-needed book of questions, ideas, and knowledge.”—Ryan Opaz, coauthor of Foot-Trodden; cofounder, Patamar Select
"Wine Liberated offers both a diagnosis and a vision of repair—one rooted in a more attentive relationship with all life.”—Kelly Mulville, Paicines Ranch