The adventure of the vineyard and wine in ancient Greece is presented through the study of ancient Greek literature. Topics such as cultivation, winemaking, and trade are analyzed, as well as issues related to symposiums, Dionysian festivals, and the positive or negative ways in which ancient Greeks understood drinking and drunkenness as embedded in religious, social, or personal processes.

Since the earliest sommeliers of antiquity were Greek doctors and pharmacists, the methods used by Hippocrates, Dioscorides, Galen, and others to analyze the character of different types of wine are described, based on color, clarity, bitterness, acidity or sweetness, and the ease or difficulty of digestion, in relation to its impact on health.

Fifty-three grape varieties, one hundred thirty-six branded wines, and one hundred eight wine-producing regions across the then-known world are studied, from Greece to Italy, Gaul, Sicily, and Spain, as well as from Greek Asia Minor, Hellenistic Syria, Central Asia, and India, to Central Europe, Egypt, and North Africa. Additionally, 89 types of medicinal wines made with herbs for medical use are described separately.