Witches, Vampires, and Wine

Because today marks the official beginning of the 13 Days of Halloween (don’t worry if you’ve never heard it before because I came up with this holiday concept myself), I’m here to come clean and explain why posting on GWU$20 has been sporadic and what it all has to do with witches, vampires, and wine.

In the fall of 2008, my life took an unexpected turn. Regular readers of the blog noticed a steep decline in posts. In January and May 2010, there were no posts at all. “What’s up?” many asked in the comments and by email. At the time, I didn’t want to say. That’s because the answer was unbelievable: I wrote a novel—and Viking Press is publishing it.

My first non-fiction book was about 16th-century chemistry, alchemy, and magic. Unless you are completely cut off from all popular culture, you know that there has been a lot of recent interest in witches, vampires, and other things that go bump in the night. Our modern fascination with these premodern topics intrigued me.

So I started spinning a tale that imagined our world was populated by all kinds of strange and wonderful creatures that human beings refuse to recognize thanks to our awesome powers of denial. These creatures include daemons (creative, destructive types), witches (who can tap into supernatural knowledge), and vampires (who are not immortal, though they live for a long time). What do they do for a living, I wondered? One question led to another (where do they hang out? who do they hang out with? what problems do they have?).

The result is A Discovery of Witches which will be released on February 8, 2011. At the center of the story is Diana Bishop, a modern, fictional descendant of the first woman executed for witchcraft in Salem way back in 1692. Diana is a historian of alchemy, who finds a lost alchemical manuscript at Oxford’s Bodleian Library and meets a mysterious geneticist named Matthew Clairmont. Matthew is a very old, French vampire and now puts his considerable energy into an occupation that rewards long-term thinking. And, along with the rest of his kind, he has a decided taste for wine.

Vampires may need blood to survive, just as humans need water, but it’s not all they drink. Wine is always changing, never the same, and drinking it helps vampires endure years and years of same-old, same-old. Imagine what they’ve been able to lay down in their cellars over the centuries, not to mention how much fun it is to befriend such a creature. When I was writing the book, I researched the world’s most collectible and historically important wine—something that expanded my wine knowledge dramatically. If you want a peek at some of the treasures in Matthew’s cellar, click here. And no, I haven’t tasted any of those bottles. If you have some you want to share, do let me know.

It is not surprising, perhaps, that a historian and oenophile like me couldn’t resist the idea of a long-lived French vampire with an excellent palate who knew both the biologist Charles Darwin AND the alchemist Nicholas Flamel. If you are so inclined, you can friend the fiction-writer me on Facebook (no wine, just writing), follow me on Twitter (fiction, wine, food, music, and rambling nonsense most days), and of course keep reading here (just wine!). And if you want to find out more about the book, read an excerpt, sign up for updates, or generally procrastinate, head to my website: http://deborahharkness.com.

Thanks to all of you who keep tuning in here and for your continued patience when I'm not blogging. Now you know that those silences indicate that I'm not only thinking about wine, but about witches and vampires, too.

Daring Pairings for Your Grape Adventures

I know that there is no such thing as a "correct" wine pairing, and that the only thing that really matters is what works for your tastebuds. Nevertheless, I do enjoy the alchemy of good wine and food pairings--that semi-mystical thing that happens when the two hit it off perfectly.

Many of us have figured out over time what favorite foods work with our favorite wines: oysters with Champagne, Gewurztraminer with Thai food, Merlot and hamburgers. But what do you serve with Arneis? How about Xinomavro? If you are into grape adventures, and often pick up wines made with unfamiliar, unpronounceable grapes then you are left in the kitchen contemplating a wine you've never tasted before and wondering what to eat with it.

Enter Evan Goldstein and Daring Pairings (University of California Press, $34.95; available on Amazon.com and at other retailers for $23 and up). The subtitle reads "a Master Sommelier matches distinctive wines with recipes from his favorite chefs" and this book delivers on that promise.

I'm a member of the Wine Century Club, so I'm always on the hunt for new grapes. Many of my favorites are profiled in this book from the increasingly common (Albarino, Malbec, Tempranillo) to the still rare (Trebbiano, Tannat, Aglianico). The book is arranged in two sections (white grapes, red grapes) and then alphabetically by grape. Each grape gets an excellent, readable description, cheese pairing advice, and a tasty recipe.

In some pairing books that include recipes from chefs, the recipes are so complicated you never get around to making them. Not so this book. I immediately made a terrific pasta dish dreamed up by the Union Square Cafe's Michael Romano with asparagus, prosciutto, and roasted peppers to accompany that wonderfully weird Bordeaux I had last week. A few days later, I made Charlie Trotter's salad of Cornish game hens with Shitake Mushroom Vinaigrette. Both were delicious, neither was too complicated--and were wonderful with the recommended wines.

I highly recommend this book. It's fun to read, and Goldstein wears his obvious expertise lightly. There is nothing intimidating about this book, but it still offers new wisdom to wine enthusiasts who know a little bit about wine. It's fun to go to the wine store with a list of funky grapes you now want to try. And it's fun to head into the kitchen to whip up a sophisticated dish to go with your first sip of Txakoli, confident that the two will taste great together.

Full disclosure: I received a review copy of this book.

Final Edition of the Wine Book Club: A Vineyard in Tuscany

Today marks the final edition of the Wine Book Club, the online club for wine lovers who also love to read. Our selection was Ferenc Máté's excellent A Vineyard In Tuscany--part fantasy, part House Hunters: Italy, and part viticultural adventure. I picked Máté's book for our final book because so many wine lovers dream of becoming vineyard owners and winemakers. Máté lived that dream, and is a good writer, in addition. The result is a magical tale that transports you to the hills of Tuscany, introduces you to local characters and traditions, and makes you feel that you are right there to enjoy the experience with him and his wife.

My fellow readers agreed.

Wine Book Club stalwart Kori from the Wine Peeps describes the book as "your standard feel-good story of adversity and perseverance which ultimately results in a happy ending," but found that the "setting in the beautiful and romantic hills of Tuscany is what makes it special." Kori's been wanting to get to Italy, and this book "did nothing but reinforce my desire to make that trip." She recommends it to "anyone who loves Italian wine, is considering a trip to Italy, or who fantasizes about owning their own vineyard and winery."

Frank from the blog Drink What You Like likened the book to a "fairytale"--complete with "a famous wine making neighbor, [and] living in a historic structure in one of the most beautiful regions on earth." Still, what he appreciated were the "low-key moments of the book," which served to balance out the fairy tale and make it more real. Frank recommends the book as a humorous, quick read.

This month we were also joined by my friend Megan, the Wannabe Wino, who (though still in recovery from the massive amounts of reading she did in law school) agreed with Frank that the book was "a fairly quick read." She loved the home renovation and restoration aspects of the book as much as the descriptions of planting the vineyard and making the wine, but wished that there had been "a bit more info about the vineyards and how they chose to plant the grapes they did." And the book did nothing to diminish Megan's "seemingly impossible dream of someday owning my own vineyard!"

And, last but certainly not least, Jim the Vinegeek joined us this month. Jim's a relatively new blogger, who has been at it since June, and I'm glad that he joined in this month. Jim was drawn to Ferenc Máté's writing, and how it evoked the "sense of community with his neighbors and the various locals who help him with his rebuild and vineyard planting, and the connectedness to the land and the seasons." He wished that Máté was a bit less self-deprecating in his self-portrayal, however, and felt that he could (and should) be justifiably proud of what he achieved.

I'd like to extend a sincere thanks to everybody who supported this idea when I came up with it, and for Kori and Frank who were such dependable reading companions. I'm glad to have been part of the Book Club and rest assured there will still be lots of book reviews here on GWU$20.

Dreaming About a Vineyard in Tuscany?

This August, the Wine Book Club will be reading Ferenc Máté's A Vineyard in Tuscany: A Wine Lover's Dream. ($13.95; 11.16, Amazon.com). The author, like many of us, dreamed of one day throwing caution to the wind and making wine. His adventures in Tuscany's chi-chi Brunello di Montalcino region, in a 13th-century Italian building that used to house monks, is a great read, and a perfect escape for the end of summer.

It's also a perfect occasion to end the dream that was the Wine Book Club. It hasn't turned out quite as I hoped and though Kori from Wine Peeps and Frank from Drink What You Like have been stalwart supporters of this effort, we feel like there's not much interest among other wine bloggers--and you know what it's like to go to a book club meeting when you're one of three people in the room. It's OK, but part of what should make this fun is comparing what you think with many other people.

That said, I'm sure the three of us will keep reading wine books and reviewing them on our individual sites, but they won't be on a regular schedule and we won't be reading the same titles.

If you want to help sing the WBC's swan song, please join us in this journey through Tuscan wine making and living the wine life. As usual, please send any links to posts to the email in the left sidebar or leave the link in the comments section of this post by 5 pm on Wednesday, August 26. I'll post the final roundup on Thursday, August 27.

July Wine Safari: Africa Uncorked

This month the Wine Book Club, the online reading group for wine lovers and readers, read John and Erica Platter's Africa Uncorked: Travels in Extreme Wine Territory ($29.95; $22.76 from amazon.com). This book was a terrific escape for me, complete with pictures, compelling writing, unbelievable stories, and a true spirit of adventure. I highly recommend it to armchair travelers as well as anyone who thinks they lead a tough life. I'm here to tell you that you have no idea what tough is until you've seen the lengths people go to in order to grow wine grapes in arid, predominantly Muslim Africa.

I was joined this month by Kori from Wine Peeps, who was equally enthusiastic about the book. Like me, she was impressed by how dedicated the African viticulturalists were, and said "the book weaves a fascinating tale of how doggedly determined winemakers have accepted the challenge of producing wine when all the odds are against them."

The book is illustrated with pictures and wine labels, and is arranged by region, spanning the continent from north to south. The Platters begin in Morocco, travel east through Ethiopia and Kenya, hit the islands of Madagascar and Mauritius, before winding up in South Africa. Through every part of their journey the Platters combine their love of food and their love of wine with a sensitivity to local customs. One of the best parts of the book for me was how they managed to paint a portrait of African wine as a whole while retaining an appreciation for the local.

Thanks once again to Kori for joining me in reading this book, and I'll see you next month for another great read.

Out of Africa with the Wine Book Club in July: Africa Uncorked

When you think "wine" you may not immediately think "Africa." John and Erica Platter set out on safari to explore African wines in the July Wine Book Club pick, Africa Uncorked: Travels in Extreme Wine Territory. ($24.95, available through Amazon.com)

I have to confess I am extremely ignorant about African wine. I don't even know that much about the wines of South Africa, never mind what's going on elsewhere. So I am looking forward to finding out about where grapes are grown on the continent and about wine culture, too. A long time ago (so long ago I can't find the comment now!) a reader suggested the Platters' book. It's taken me a while to get around to it, but now that I've got it in my hands I'm really looking forward to reading it. Other critics have described the book as "wise and visionary" (Jancis Robinson) and "the most original wine book in years" (Hugh Johnson). So why not get yourself a copy and join us as we find out more?

If you do join in and want to leave your thoughts on the book you can either leave them in the comments below by Wednesday, July 29 or (if you have a blog) you can leave the link to your post here in the comments or send it to me via email. I'll post a roundup of the reviews on Thursday, July 30.

And if you want a recap of what we read last month, check out Kori's wrap-up of our reviews of Jamie Ivey's La Vie en Rosé over on her blog, Wine Peeps. Thanks again to Kori for hosting while I was away.

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.

April Wine Book Club: The Science of Wine

If you've ever wondered what brettanomyces is (and how to spell it), the April wine club pick is for you.

This month, join us as we read Jamie Goode's The Science of Wine: From Vine to Glass. (University of California Press, $35.95; available through amazon.com for $23.73) As many of you know, Jamie Goode is not only a wine author and journalist, he's also a wine blogger. I'm hoping he brings the same lively, lucid style to his book that he exhibits on his blog. Whenever I go to Goode's sight I know I'll get terrific information, delivered with a sense of humor and some down-to-earth common sense.

All the reviews for this book praise its clarity and engaging style, so I'm looking forward to finding out more about the science behind the wine I drink. If you'd like to join in, please read the book anytime during the month of April, post a review before Wednesday, April 29 at 5 pm, and send me a link either here or via email to let me know you've done so. That way I'll be sure to include you in the round-up of posts on April 30.

March Book Club: Adventuring on the Wine Route

This month two fellow wine bloggers joined me in taking a wine adventure in France led by wine merchant extraordinaire Kermit Lynch.

This March, the Wine Book Club read Lynch's Adventures on the Wine Route: A Wine Buyer's Tour of France. It's a classic of the genre, combining an insider's perspective on wine with a traveler's tale of people, places, and things that Lynch encountered while en route seeking out great bottles to bring back for his customers in the United States.

Frank at Drink What You Like is taken with Lynch's fancy for "natural wines," but finds them difficult to find in his neck of the woods in Southern Virginia. He stocks up on them when he's in San Francisco, and liked the way Lynch was able to transmit his "excitement and passion" for wine throughout his book. Frank noted that Lynch was a pioneer in shipping wine in refrigerated containers, and that he has strong opinions about the problems associated with evaluating wine based on blind-tastings without food. A road-warrior himself, Frank celebrated his first full week at home this year with a Lynch-inspired menu of oysters and a nice bottle of Chablis!

Kori at The Wine Peeps also mentioned Lynch's innovative methods of shipping wine and his feelings about blind tastings. Kori and her dad, John, are proponents of blind tasting (though they do taste with food). This was a re-read for Kori, who first picked the book up when she went to Bordeaux in 2003, and would "still recommend it today, even though it is a bit dated." She found her favorite quote from the book on a dog-eared page: “One cannot do justice to a great bottle alone. Someone with whom to ooh and aah is indispensable, someone with whom to share the intellectual and aesthetic stimulation that a great bottle inspires.” Isn't that one of the great joys of picking up a book that you've read before? To see what struck you the first time? Finally, she especially recommends the book "if you ever plan to visit the wine regions of France."

For me, one of the most powerful aspects of the book came at the very beginning where Lynch contrasted the American approach to wine, "with our New World innocence and democratic sensibilities," which tends to make us feel that "all wines are created equal," with the French apporach. "The French," Lynch writes, "with they aristocratic heritage, their experience and tradition," have their "grand crus, premiers crus, and there is even an official niche for the commoners, the vins de table." This contrast worked on me throughout the book, and I felt like it announced at the outset that what Lynch experienced in France was a completely different world of wine that he was eager to explain and share with those of us still living in "New World innocence." I'm not sure we're still that innocent, but I agree that we approach wine very differently from Europeans and Lynch helped to clarify that for me.

Thanks to Frank and Kori for once more joining me in reading a great book about wine. I'll be announcing next month's title next week--and hope that you will consider joining us for the April Wine Book Club.

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!

February Book Club Wrap Up

We had a small but choice turnout for the February Wine Book Club. Kori from Wine Peeps and I are the devoted duo still doggedly reading wine books and reporting on them.

This month we read the Kladstrups' Champagne: How the World's Most Glamorous Wine Triumphed Over War and Hard Times. This month, we were in agreement about the book, too.

Kori knew what to expect, because she read the Kladstrups' other book Wine and War. She enjoyed the longer historical span that Champagne covered, as well as the focus on a single region. Kori also enjoyed having the myths surrounding Dom Perignon debunked and finding out about the real monk behind the myth. You can click here to read her complete review, with some of the book's more memorable quotes.

We both agreed that the tales of the wine caves and how they served as bunker/employment center/hospital/school/opera house/ banquet facility for the region was astonishing.

We also both agreed that Champagne was getting bumped up on our list of wine regions we simply must visit. The Kladstrups are very good and conveying the history and flavor of the area, and making the reader want to know more.

In the end, both Kori and I recommend this book to anyone who likes history and Champagne. You'll get generous servings of both with this book.

Kori and I will be back next month. Why not join us? I'll explain why I picked the March title on Thursday. And for those of you who like advance notice, our next three books will be:

March: Adventures on the Wine Route, Kermit Lynch
April: The Science of Wine, Jamie Goode
May: Passion on the Vine, Sergio Esposito

February's Wine Book Club: A Book About Bubbly

For the Wine Book Club's February read, we turned to Champagne--the world's favorite bubbly beverage--and Don and Petie Kladstrup's critically-acclaimed book, Champagne: How the World's Most Glamorous Wine Triumphed Over War and Hard Times.

The book opens and closes with a trip to a battlefield. Don and Petie Kladstrup use these bookends to emphasize the fact that what is arguably the world's most glamorous wine comes from the same place on earth where a great deal of blood has been shed.

These kinds of contrasts--between glamour and war, between the luxury-loving Louis XIV and the disheveled Dom Perignon, between the underground world of the Champagne region's wine caves (complete with banquets, cabaret, and opera) and the German bombardment taking place overhead--occur again and again in the Kladstrup's book. The result is a highly readable and engaging account not only of how Champagne got its elegant reputation, but how that reputation was zealously guarded.

Champagne is not a chronological trot through the history of the beverage or the region--although the authors do follow a rough chronological framework. Instead, it reads a bit like you're accompanying the Kladstrups on a saunter around town. Along the way you meet some interesting people, learn some history, and visit some beautiful places. The Kladstrups are excellent tour guides, and clearly know their subject inside and out.

While the book is wide-ranging, it focuses on both the wine of the region and the period of the Great War--or World War I as its called in America. Maybe I'm having a hard time taking off my history hat, but I sometimes found all the jumping around from place to place and time to time a bit exasperating. It wasn't that I couldn't follow the Kladstrups--they write well, and the stories they tell are interesting. But I sometimes felt as though I just wanted them to tell the story simply, from beginning to end, and be done with it.

Despite my occasional moments of frustration, the book includes enough riveting detail and compelling story-telling to more than make up for a few rambling moments. What I will most remember from this book, for instance, are the accounts of life in the region's caves or crayeres during the Great War. The pictures were amazing. Seeing entire schools, bedrooms, banquets, hospitals in the caves was something else, and drove home the Kladstrups' point that Champagne, for all its elegance, is made from soil on which hundreds of battles have been fought.

Reading the Kladstrups' book made me want to visit Champagne myself and explore the region, its wine, and its history. I'd recommend this book to armchair travelers, World War I buffs, and anyone who truly loves the wines of Champagne.

I'll be back on Thursday with the wrap-up, so if you have a review to share, please send me a link or put the link in the comments here or on the announcement post.

February Wine Book Club: A Book on Bubbles

After a somewhat bumpy start, the next book up for reading and review in the monthly Wine Book Club is Don and Petie Kladstrup's Champagne: How the World's Most Glamorous Wine Triumphed Over War and Hard Times. (Harper Collins, $13.95; Amazon.com, $5.50).

I picked this book for the month of February because more bubbly is consumed in the US between January 1 and February 15 than over the remaining course of the year.

I think it's insane the way we think sparkling wine is only to be had at special occasions. This book sheds light on how we got the idea in the first place, and explores the wine region that has produced this famous, coveted beverage through good times and bad.

Even though this book examines wine history, I think most people will find it a bit more to their taste than the last book. Sorry--I am a historian! So grab yourself some champagne and get your hands on a copy of this book from your local library or bookshop. Then all you have to do is read along and tell us what you think.

I'm also open to suggestions on what to read in upcoming months. We'll be reading Kermit Lynch's Adventures on the Wine Route in March and Jamie Goode's The Science of Wine in April. Possible books I've come up for the summer include Susan Sokol Blosser's At Home in the Vineyard, Ferenc Mate's A Vineyard in Tuscany, and Christy Campbell's The Botanist and the Vintner. Any thoughts? Additional titles?

If you post a review of the book on your blog, please do so by Wednesday, February 25 at 5 pm and send me the link via email or be leaving it in the comments section of this post. I promise I'll check back here for it. That way, I'll be able to include your reaction in my wrap-up post on Thursday, February 26. No blog? No worries. You can always leave your thoughts in the comments here.

January Wine Book Club Wrap Up: Notes on a Cellar Book

We had four participants in this month's wine book club--the first of 2009--and one review that was written by a wine blogger a few years ago but I'm including it anyway because it's a great review!

Except for me, people weren't all that enthusiastic about the book. I was wildly enthusiastic--but then again, I picked the book.

Here are what wine bloggers thought of George Saintsbury's Notes on a Cellar Book.

Jim Eastman from Music & Wine found there were language barriers standing between him and Saintsbury, but more importantly "I just didn't find his anecdotes terribly entertaining." Eastman preferred the chapters devoted to spirits, especially whiskies.

Kori at the WinePeeps wrote a review that was very much in line with Jim Eastman's. Like Jim, Kori found the language inaccessible and had to "keep a dictionary at my side" to clarify some of his terms. She recommends this book to "an academic or a history buff" (guilty!) She enjoyed the book but she does "wonder if it fits the palate of most of our readers."

Frank from Drink What You Like was struck by the picture on the cover and its resemblance to Dumbledore. He, too, found it "tough to read" and he found it "difficult to stay engaged." Though he praises the historical information found within, he doesn't recommend the book as a "general learning tool" for those starting out on wine.

Edward the Wino Sapien found "the freshness and directness of the words and familiarity of the names potentially disconcerting," and found that despite its age "many of the words and ideas still hold true."

Update:
I missed one. Sorry!
RJH from RJ's Wine Blog didn't like the book AT ALL. She was taken back to English Lit classes--and not in a good way. "Don't buy or read this one. Too heavy, allusive and not all that interesting," RJ said in conclusion.

I think these reviews will be quite helpful for people who are thinking about this book and wondering whether they will like it or not. If you're a history buff (or as I suggested a Masterpiece Theater buff) you will probably like this book. If not, then you might want to think twice.

Next month's book also has a historical bent, but it covers a bubbly topic, so hopeful it will be a bit easier to get through. I'll have full details and explain why I picked the title next Thursday.

Thanks to all the participants for their honest, well-written reviews. And I hope that more wine bloggers and readers jump on the bandwagon next month.

Wine Book Club: Notes on a Cellar Book

"There is no money, among that which I have spent since I began to earn my living, of the expenditure of which I am less ashamed, or which gave me better value in return, than the price of the liquids chronicled in this book. When they were good they pleased my senses, cheered my spirits, improved my moral and intellectual powers, besides enabling me to confer the same benefits on other people." George Saintsbury, Notes on a Cellar Book

Between 1884 and 1915 an English literature professor named George Saintsbury kept a series of notes on his wine, spirits, beer, and culinary adventures. First published in 1920, just as the United States was entering its experiment with alcoholic abstinence, his "cellar book" (as the notebook was called) was such a success it went through three editions in its first year of publication. Young American readers confessed to being so moved upon reading it that they immediately broke the law, drank Port, and toasted the author's health. Since that time it has earned its place many times over as a classic example of wine writing. That's why it made it to the top of the list for the 2009 Wine Book Club, and was my selection for the month of January.

Thomas Pinney thought that it was time for a modern, annotated reprint of the book--and as far as I'm concerned he was absolutely right. Now we can all have a copy of this wonderful, evocative book on the shelf, complete with notes to explain the more historical bits.

One 0f the things that makes this book a wonderful read is that Saintsbury had a wide-ranging interest in and curiosity about wine. That means he liked Burgundy as well as Claret from Bordeaux, and appreciated beer as much as vintage Port. The other thing that makes it wonderful is that it reads a bit like an episode of Masterpiece Theater--it's terribly British in its strong opinions. And so icing wine is politely but firmly designated as "barbarous." The size of the wine glass matters to the taste of the wine--or so Saintsbury believed, well before Riedel glases. And if you are going to have a special dinner, start with Sherry, move through Champagne to Claret then to Burgundy (DRC 1858 if you can get it...) and finish up with a Hermitage from the Rhone.

It came as a surprise to me that there was a concern about "big" wine even in 1923. "Once upon a time there was an author who though not a vintner wrote about wine, "Saintsbury reported, "and some of the experts found...fault with him as with one who leant too much to "bigness," "stoutness," and the like...." The offending wine was French Bordeaux--long before Parkerization--and the author was Saintsbury himself. "If you want delicacy," Saintsbury advises, "you don't go to the Rhone or anywhere in France below Gascony." What's more, Saintsbury thinks that people who refuse ever to drink a light wine, or to touch a heavy wine, are "irregular." Instead, someone truly interested in wine should drink whatever they can.

I love this book, and I love Saintsbury's writerly voice. He's curmudgeonly and opinionated but he is in no way narrow in his approach to drink. As such, he's an example to every wine drinker and writer in the 21st century.

GWU$20 drinkers may wonder if reading about fantastic bottles of wine from the 19th and early 20th centuries has any relevance to those of us looking for good, affordable, everyday wine. Saintsbury would say yes--and I would agree. For Saintsbury, what matters is that you drink as widely and well as your bank account allows and to learn the differences between wine without becoming a snob about it. Here's what he says: "Here, as else- and every-where in criticism, not only the hardest thing to attain but also the hardest thing to get recognized when attained, is the appreciation of difference [in wine] without insisting on superiority."

If this taste of George Saintsbury's Notes on a Cellar Book has wet your whistle, you can get the book from the University of California Press ($29.95) or from your favorite book retailer.

I'll post a roundup of any reviews of the book written by wine bloggers on Thursday, so send in your links if you participated in this month's club. The February title will be announced next week.

The 2009 Wine Book Club

There are some changes in store for the 2009 Wine Book Club.

We started out on a promising note last year, but by year's end participation had dwindled to a few die-hards, and even I was having a hard time keeping the calendar straight.

So, this year I will announce a new title for the WBC on the first Thursday of every month, and explain why I think it's a great book. If you want to read the book and post a review on your blog, you can do it whenever you feel like that month. Send me a note with the URL and I'll post a roundup on the last Thursday of every month.

There won't be guest hosts, or "spin the bottle" reviews. I hope, instead, that the flexibility will encourage more people to participate. And, I hope that doing it monthly (instead of every other month) will keep the WBC on more people's to-do lists.

The January 2009 Wine Book Club Book Selection is George Saintsbury's Notes on a Cellar-Book. (University of California Press, $29.95; available through amazon.com for $23.96)

January is a natural time for reflection about the past and thinking about the future, and Saintsbury's classic work of literature will encourage all of us to consider how wine culture has changed--and how it has remained the same--since the book was first published in 1920. For those of us who not only love wine, but also write about it, Saintsbury's prose will be inspiring. He is a beautiful writer, capable of evoking a world of pleasures and sensations in a single, powerful sentence. He's also a thoughtful writer, and shares his struggles to convey something as mysterious and personal as your taste of a wine with a reader.

I'll be eager to read about your experiences with the book. Did you like the history, or did you find reading about how one man drank wine nearly a hundred years ago too remote? If you write your own tasting notes--either for personal use or for publication--do you think that you will write them differently, now that you have read Saintsbury? What will you remember about this book, long after you put it back on your shelf? A particular wine? A particular place that Saintsbury enjoyed a tipple?

For those of you who are planners, here is the schedule for the next three months of the WBC. I've used many of the suggestions I received last year, and will continue to plan three months out. That way, we can add newly released books when people are eager to read them, rather than putting them at the end of a long, long queue. If you have additional suggestions--whether new releases or classic titles--please leave them in the comments. We will get to them, I promise.

February: Don Kladstrup, Champagne: How the World's Most Glamorous Wine Triumphed Over War and Hard Times

March: Kermit Lynch, Adventures on the Wine Route

April: Jamie Goode, The Science of Wine

Please send me URL links to your reviews of Saintsbury's book by Wednesday, January 28 so that I can (if necessary) write a round-up post on January 29.

Gift Ideas for Wine Lovers: A Roundup of Great Books

The days are passing, and unless you've done your homework about shipping laws it may be too late to send wine to the wine lovers on your list.

If good wine is out, how about a good book about wine? Personally, I think I'm even more delighted to receive a book than a bottle.

Here are some of the best books available, with my recommendations for just who might love to have them on their shelves.

For Adventurous Types
Oz Clark, Oz Clark's Grapes and Wines: the Definitive Guide to the World's Greatest Grapes and the Wines They Make ($25; $16.50 from Amazon.com)
This is the book for wine lovers who never pick Chardonnay off the wine list. It's chock full of information on rare grape varieties and it takes account of geographical diversity and how climate influences the character of grapes.

For Pinot Noir Lovers
John Winthrop Haeger, Pacific Pinot Noir: A Comprehensive Winery Guide for Consumers and Connoisseurs ($21.95; $14.93 from Amazon.com)
If you have someone on your list who loves West Coast Pinot Noir, then get them a copy of this new book. It has notes on more than two hundred wineries stretching from California through to Oregon, tasting notes, vintage reports, and more. I found Haeger's characterization of various "house styles" on target and very useful. A highly recommended new release from the University of California Press.

For History Buffs and Keepers of Great Tasting Notes
George Saintsbury, Notes on a Cellar Book ($29.95; $21.56 from Amazon.com)
George Saintsbury (1845-1933) was an English literature professor at the University of Edinburgh. In 1920, he published his Notes on a Cellar Book, a wonderful collection of reflections on drinking everything from the best French Burgundy to a refreshing pint of beer. Reading this new edition of Saintsbury's work is a glimpse into our viticultural past, as well as a revelation of how great wine and great
literature can go hand-in-hand.

For Biography Lovers--and Fans of Bubbly
Tilar J. Mazzeo, The Widow Clicquot: The story of a Champagne Empire and the Woman Who Ruled It ($25.95; $17.13 from Amazon.com)
I've been waiting for this book for a long, long time. Finally, Tilar Mazzeo tells us the compelling story of Barbe-Nicole Clicquot Ponsardin (aka Veuve Clicquot). How this woman transformed the reputation of Champagne from a lowly tipple to the toast of tsars and emperors sheds light on the power of image in the wine business and the determination of one woman to do things her way despite years of tradition and resistance.


For Mystery Lovers
Benjamin Wallace, The Billionaire's Vinegar: The Mystery of the World's Most Expensive Bottle of Wine ($24.95; $16.47 from Amazon.com)
Combine a famous president, some classic Bordeaux, a lot of wrangling for the "best" and the "rarest" and you get the perfect conditions for fraud, skulduggery, and behind-the-scenes machinations that would but Machiavelli to shame. This is a real page-turner, and will delight history fans and wine collectors as well as mystery buffs.

For Those Just Beginning Their Journey Into Wine
Tyler Colman, A Year of Wine: Perfect Pairings, Great Buys, and What to Sip for Each Season ($24.00; $17.44 from Amazon.com)
Colman's new book is the perfect choice if you have someone on your list who is new to wine or is intimidated by wine. Taking a steady, month-by-month approach, Colman proves that context is all and that the wine you love in January may not be the one you want to sip in August. Specific recommendations and travel tips accompany pairing suggestions and round out this accessible, informative guide. It's like having Dr. Vino right in your house whenever you need him!

Even last minute shoppers are sure to find something here to suit almost everyone on their list. And with no shipping restrictions, you are sure to be able to get your gift to its recipient in time for the holidays.

Full disclosure: With the exception of Oz Clarke's book, I received these books as samples.

Election Day Special: Wine Politics Roundup

Today we have an Election Day Special: a roundup of all the reviews of Tyler Colman's book Wine Politics: How Governments, Environmentalists, Mobsters and Critics Influence the Wines We Drink.

Our reviews mark the 5th edition of the Wine Book Club, and the last meeting for 2008--because no one is going to post a review between Christmas and New Year's Eve, are they? So it's all the more fitting that we mark the end of 2008 and the end of the Bush administration with a book dedicated to helping us understand the complicated political journey that wine takes from grape to glass.

We had some Wine Book Club veterans and some first-timers, too. So here is a roundup of some of their thoughts.

First time Wine Book Club participant Jim Eastman from the blog Music and Wine praised Colman's accessible style, noting that "it managed to keep me engaged without fail through the whole book. Eastman's main criticism of the book was he felt it was a little too short to cover such a broad-ranging topic in so few pages. Jim wanted more--"A little extra depth and perspective" was the way he put it--which I can tell you from personal experience is the kind of criticism an author can live with. When a reader wants more, that's a good thing.

Another first time WBC participant, Frank Morgan from the blog Drink What YOU Like, described the book as "academic and thorough." Frank found the Colman's coverage of the topic "fascinating," and while he did sometimes get "lost in the details a couple of times," the book changed the way he "looked at a glass of wine." My favorite line in Frank's review was saved for the end: "My major takeaway from Wine Politics is an increased sense of appreciation for the small wine guy and the crap they go through just to produce and sell wine to me!"

Christianne from the blog Christianne Uncorked (also a first time WBC participant) found the book was "PACKED with information about wine, history, and politics," but she sometimes found that the organization left her feeling a bit "distracted." She particularly would have liked more of Colman's informal writing and less of the formal academic style.

Taste B from Smells Like Grape added her two cents on the book, saying that it was a "breath of fresh air" given the other books she's reading for an academic course at the moment. What she most enjoyed about the book was that is wasn't just a rehash of things she already knew about wine. Instead, Colman "weaves together many observable and oft discussed conditions in the wine industry with little-known catalysts to form some pretty stark revelations."

Wine Book Club veteran Kori from the Wine Peeps made it clear that this was not the book for you if you were looking for "basic wine information or for a recommendation on what bottle of wine to drink tonight." However, "a lot of information is packed into this relatively short 148-page read," and Kori found the message thought provoking. "If you really want to know why you can’t buy a bottle of wine you fell in love with on a recent trip to California and have it shipped to your home," Kori recommends you pick up this book and learn why.

Richard the Passionate Foodie, another WBC veteran, recommends this well-written book to "those who are more passionate about wine, who enjoy learning about more than grape varieties and wine regions." While it may not appeal to the novice, Richard feels that wine lovers will appreciateColman's "measured and neutral stance" on his more controversial topics, where he presents arguments for both sides of troubling questions.

Thanks to Tyler Colman, our own Dr. Vino, for writing this excellent book which really did convince me that any drinkable wine produced in this country is a miracle, given the laws that stand in the way of winemakers and consumers. And thanks to all the participants this month.

The next edition of the book club will be announced in early December, and reviews will be due in late January--so stay tuned for another year of the Wine Book Club.

Today on Serious Grape: Why Read About Wine You'll Never Drink?

If you are often frustrated reading wine magazines, wine books, and wine reviews that focus on wines you can't find in your local store, you may wonder why I am addicted to Michael Broadbent's Vintage Wine: Fifty Years of Tasting Three Centuries of Wines. This book collects his tasting notes for the oldest, rarest, and most coveted wines in the world.

Today on Serious Grape, my weekly column on Serious Eats, I explain why I love reading about wine I'll never, ever be able to drink, like the 1811 Chateau Yquem from the "comet vintage." For me its a vicarious pleasure akin to reading People magazine or Vogue, and it combines two of my favorite other pleasures: history and mystery.

If you don't know Michael Broadbent's book, it's an awe-inspiring trip through some of the oldest and most expensive cellars on the planet. And because there's no conceivable way most of us will ever be able to buy any of the wines he tastes here, there's none of that frustration--just pure enjoyment. If this sounds like something you might find fun, or you are looking for a gift for a wine lover, check out today's post.

Wine Blogging Wednesday #49 Announced: What Will You Be Drinking on Election Day?

What will you drink to celebrate the end of the Bush
era and the beginning of--who knows? (image from Topics from 192 Countries)

On September 17, just a few weeks before election day and a few months before the presidential inauguration takes place, wine bloggers will be telling America what they will be drinking.

That's the theme for Wine Blogging Wednesday 49, hosted by dhonig of the 2 Days per Bottle blog. dhonig lays out some pretty interesting possibilities in his announcement post: "Will it be something to honor the 43rd President, or are you just looking forward to 44? Will it be something from Texas, which Bush calls home, or Connecticut, where he was really raised? Maybe a nice French champagne, a bit of a poke in his eye? Or do you prefer Italian prosecco, since they supported the "War on Terror"? Whatever it is, get ready to lift a glass and toast the end of an era that America will never forget." And Remy from the great blog The Wine Case reminded all of us who are geographically challenged that Shiraz is a city in Iran (which is not too far from Iraq) in his comments on the announcement.

I'll be posting my pick for toasting regime change election day and inauguration day on September 17, and if you have a blog you should join in the fun. No blog? Not to worry. You can always post your ideas on the Wine Blogging Wednesday blog.