Friday, March 06, 2009

March Book Club: Adventures on the Wine Route

This March, why not take a mini-vacation along France's viticultural byways?

If this sounds good to you, please join the March Wine Book Club as we read wine merchant extraordinaire Kermit Lynch's Adventures on the Wine Route: A Wine Buyer's Tour of France (North Point Press, $18; available from Amazon.com for $12.44)

The reason I picked this classic wine book for March's assignment is because most wine lovers have no idea how the wine on the shelves of their local stores actually arrives there. When living in northern California, I was fortunate to be able to buy wine off of Kermit Lynch's shelves in Berkeley. His taste for great wine meant that what was in his store was intriguing and exciting. This book explains that this level of quality was no accident--it was the result of his travels around France.

This book is one part travel tale and one part wine diary. The rest is filled in with wonderful character sketches and Kermit Lynch's sense of humor and whimsy. I think you'll enjoy it.

If you want to participate, please read the book and post your reactions to it on your blog or other website by Wednesday, March 25 at 5 pm. Send me a link via email or in the comments to this post or my review later this month. I'll post a roundup as usual on the last Thursday, March 26.

Happy wine trails!

4 comments:

AprGrad2004 said...

This book was written in 1988.
Do you have any more up to date recommendations?

Dr. Debs said...

I believe that's why I described it as a classic. In 1988, some of my readers weren't even of drinking age, never mind reading Kermit Lynch! Upcoming books are listed in the left sidebar, and you should feel free to recommend titles you think we should be reading instead!

AprGrad2004 said...

Haha, yeah, I was 8 in 1988!

Anonymous said...

Regardless of when this was published, this is must read for anyone interested in wine.

Great pick.