The truth is wine is more about chemistry, dirt and grapes than it is about glamour, romance and wearing patent-leather party shoes. If you’re contemplating getting into the wine business, do your homework first.

If it seems silly to you to only drink Champagne and sparkling wine on special occasions, join the club. According to Wine Spectator magazine, U.S. sales of sparkling wines, including Champagne, grew at a faster pace in 2007 than wine sales in any other category. Apparently, every day is a good day to celebrate. I couldn’t agree more.

“Good wine can’t be made from bad grapes.” This adage has been bandied about in the wine industry for years, and to my knowledge, no one has ever disproved it.

What makes grapes—or any plant, for that matter—high or low quality? Gene Nolin might not have cared, but when a construction project landed him near a farmer’s seed field, he observed a situation that put him on a life quest to understand plant physiology. In the process, he found out how to make a good grape.