Produzione editoriale

Recognising the fact that sexuality is an essential aspect of human life, the Italian Society of Andrology promoted the book “Vino e Eros” as an educational tool for the wider dissemination of andrological culture and understanding as well as to give practical answers to couples with sexual problems. If we speak about wine we speak about culture, art, history of people, as well as about food and Mediterranean diet which is considered today all over the world as one of the healthiest diets, including for sexual health.

Wine or as it’s called the ‘nectar of Bacchus’, is a recognised accessory for the enjoyment of love, might promote the delicate mechanisms of sexual desire and activity. Balanced wine consumption provides benefits to both men and women. Even today beliefs in connection with wine consumption and satisfaction of senses are still vague and inexact.

Specialists in andrology, psychology, urology, gynaecology and pharmacology approach matters from an unusual and interesting point of view in the book.
Since the dawn of civilisation alcoholic drinks, which is represented by wine for the Mediterranean people, have been influencing the sexual behaviours of both men and women. In the collective imagination it has been associated with spontaneity and seduction. Countless ancient and modern literary works are rich of references and fascinating legends about the connection between wine and sexuality, yet they are statements without any scientific foundation.

Therefore it is uncommon for these matters to be examined with the rigors of scientific evaluation. “Vino e Eros”, edited by Riccardo Bartoletti, Nicola Mondaini and Francesco Montorsi has an informative easy to read style even for those who are not medical experts. The idea was originated from a research about red wine’s positive effects on sexuality which was conducted by Ospedale S. Maria Annunziata in Florence, known for its location as the “hospital of Chianti”.
This research has been coordinated by Prof Nicola Mondani, an eminent international researcher. The volume is rich in illustrations and contains contributions from the best specialists in andrology, psychology and urology who examine male and female sexuality in this context. They review and analyse wine’s effects on human behaviour and its psychology, their impacts on desire, pleasure, orgasm, fears and insecurities in different periods of life.

The book begins with the history of wine since ancient times, followed by a contribution of Carlo Pedretti (one of the most important specialists on Leonardo da Vinci) about the occurrences of eroticism and wine consumption in Leonardo’s secret codes. The next chapter is an anthology on literary quotations from the Greek and Roman classics up to our times (Sappho, Ovid, Galilei, Shakespeare, Baudelaire, Hesse, Neruda, Pavese, Gianna Nannini and others).

The chapters that follow are dedicated to the effects of alcohol, why it makes us uninhibited, the very contemporary topic of alcohol consumption by teenagers, the physiological aspects of sexuality (from erection to the mechanisms of female orgasm), sexual problems, links between wine and health. As of today the book have been sold over 10 000 copies. It is an ideal way to highlight and disseminate andrological knowledge to the general public.