The Wine Book Club Wrap-Up for May

For May's edition of the Wine Book Club we read a book about the food and wine of Italy: Sergio Esposito's Passion on the Vine: A Memoir of Food, Wine, and Family in the Heart of Italy. Kori from Wine Peeps picked our selection, and we had a number of people send in reviews (some posted previously). The book was a hit with readers, and comes highly recommended if you are looking for some summertime reading pleasure.

Esposito's book is part autobiography, part travel story, part food diary, and part oenological tale. Frank from Drink What You Like thought that Esposito's life was "fascinating and enviable"--a sentiment with which I concurred. I enjoyed the immediacy of his writing, and the sense that it gave that you were right there, traveling Italy with him and eating great food and sipping great wine. Kori from WinePeeps (who hopes that Italy is her next wine destination) describes the book as "a well-written memoir that makes you feel as if you are sitting at the table with the Esposito family, eating a scrumptious meal prepared with local ingredients and enjoying local wine." By the way, she warns, "the meal could last up to four or six hours."

Frank thought the book busted some myths about the life of a wine importer, too. He "noticed several parallels" with Kermit Lynch's Adventures on the Wine Route which we read a few months ago. "In particular," Frank noted, "they both attempt to dispel the myth that the life of an importer is all glamour – traveling the world, tasting countless wines each day, dining at the finest restaurants, and hobnobbing with remarkable wine makers."

Earlier reviewers who posted reviews around the blogosphere agreed with our positive take on the book. Richard Auffrey, the Passionate Foodie, was similarly enthusiastic, praising the book's "easy reading style" which made him "hooked from the very first chapter. Sonadora, the Wannabe Wino, received the book as a gift and found that "the book made me want to go scoop up as many native Italian varieties as possible and cook up delicious cuisine to go with them." She took the book with her on a business trip, and found it a "great easy to read book." Evan Dawson of Lenndevours reported that Esposito's "stories are so rich that the reader will seek out the featured producers' wines and feel like they know the story of what is in the bottle."

That closes the book on this month's selection. Thanks to Kori and Frank, my indefatigable companions in the Wine Book Club. I'll have the summer reading list for you next Thursday--all inspired by summer travel and summertime dreams. Hope that you will join us next month for our next good read--and a glass of wine to go with it.