Wine Book Review #1

A Short Positive Review Trifecta

1. Jancis Robinson. "Tasting Pleasure : Confessions of a Wine Lover" (1997).

Hell of a book, this one here. Jancis has the experience and writing chops to keep her story more than interesting. She perfectly balances her early and more recent career with a mix of insider stories, wine knowledge, and personal material. Since I hear voices in my head when I read, this book felt like a conversation. And it made me long to be a wine writer (or any wine person really), even though I can't sew a sentence together. Honest, unpretentious, and fun. I hope she updates these memoirs someday with the last 12 years of her life. She's an asset.

2. Neil Rosenthal. "Reflections of a Wine Merchant : On a Lifetime in the Vineyards and Cellars of France and Italy" (2008)

I want to lunch with Neil Rosenthal. I don't know what I'd ask him, since his book spills it all, filled with candid tales of wine retailing, traveling and importing. Unlike Jancis, he somewhat breaks our wine fantasies by exposing the challenges and hardships that come along with it. But Neil's grateful to all he's worked with and this humility pours out. He's also not afraid to call a spade a spade and tells many stories of people or places that have disappointed or gone pear-shaped over the years. His pace is very good and he favors Old World authentic wines and hard-working, family-driven winemakers. After reading, I now actively seek the wines he imports (successful book for NR in a number of ways).

3. Benjamin Wallace. "The Billionaire's Vinegar : The Mystery of the World's Most Expensive Bottle of Wine" (2008)

As a wine-loving archivist, this book promised to push all my buttons: old preserved bottles of juice, questionable provenance, history, academic wine experts, and issues surrounding storage, exhibition and authenticity. And pushed it did. This book had tons of momentum, and Wallace filled in the main story with loads of awesome tangents, especially related to Thomas Jefferson. He also effectively painted all the characters involved. Finally, Wallace did a great job making this story accessible to non-wine audiences, but not boring or simplistic for those with a wine background. A classic yarn.