Can an 8,000-year-old method take off in South Africa? The answer lies in Obscura by Charles Back.

It’s fascinating to watch winemaker Zaza Kbilashvili dip a ladle into a massive clay vessel buried underground and extract some amber liquid. He pours it into my glass and I take a sip, then cough appreciatively. I’m finally getting used to the robust, sometimes musty wines of Georgia, where semi-crushed grapes and their pips, stalks, and skins are tipped into massive pots called qvevris and left to ferment naturally up to their necks in soil…