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 symposia, Dionysian festivals, and the positive or negative ways in which ancient Greeks perceived drinking and intoxication as integrated into religious, social, or personal processes.

Since the first sommeliers of antiquity were Greek physicians and pharmacists, the methods by which Hippocrates, Dioscorides, Galen, and others analyzed the character of each type of wine—based on color, clarity, astringency, acidity or sweetness, and how easily it is assimilated by the body—are described, especially in relation to its impact on health.

Fifty-three grape varieties, 136 branded types of wine, and 108 wine-producing regions across the known world at the time 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 separately described.