‘Not just one of the best books on wine, it’s one of the best books on France.’ Michael Palin

The sleepy village of Puligny-Montrachet produces the greatest white wines in Burgundy, famous throughout the world, but the place itself is unknown to outsiders. The lives of its inhabitants are shaped by the rhythms of the agricultural year, punctuated by the intense activity of the harvest, when the noise of tractors echoes down the narrow streets as the grapes are carried to the cellars.

This vivid and evocative journal of everyday life in rural France takes us through the cycle of the seasons, from the bonfires of the winter prunings to the celebrations of the feast of St Vincent. We meet the butcher, the baker, the mayor and, of course, the vignerons, from small growers cultivating a few rows of wines to the owners of the best Domaines.

Combining a history of the village with a detailed study of the vines, this is a fascinating snapshot of a way of life that is disappearing.

Simon Loftus