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3.04 AVERAGE
3.04 AVERAGE
If you have read McInerney's other wine book this book is unnecessary and a little redundant. Even if you haven't read his other book prepare for repetition. The book is essentially a collection of essays from McInerney's wine column so expect basic wine concepts to be repeated often and the same cast of characters to be introduced over and over.
Collection of short pieces McI did for House & Garden. Published as a book in 2000, so it is a bit dated at times. I wish each of the pieces was dated, to give us a better sense of the timeliness of each article. Some pieces do come off as just a list of wine producers and years for outstanding vintages.
If you know wine, read the "Millennium" piece first - a description of some of the wines he and friends (including Brit novelist Julian Barnes) drank over a series of 4 dinners to introduce the new millennium. Jealous!
The short pieces seemed to go on and on, but I got more interested w/ the last two group headings, "Grape Nuts" and "On Doing It Right". They had more general info on wine and personalities.
The book is a good intro to some background and history of wine production around the world.
I'd put this as "bathroom reading" - as most of the chapters never exceed 3 pp. Nice to pick up for the occasional read on the side. He has a 2nd volume out, collecting his later pieces.
If you know wine, read the "Millennium" piece first - a description of some of the wines he and friends (including Brit novelist Julian Barnes) drank over a series of 4 dinners to introduce the new millennium. Jealous!
The short pieces seemed to go on and on, but I got more interested w/ the last two group headings, "Grape Nuts" and "On Doing It Right". They had more general info on wine and personalities.
The book is a good intro to some background and history of wine production around the world.
I'd put this as "bathroom reading" - as most of the chapters never exceed 3 pp. Nice to pick up for the occasional read on the side. He has a 2nd volume out, collecting his later pieces.
I might have enjoyed this book more had I known even a little, tiny, eensy-weensy bit about French wine. Reading it, I felt like the foreign exchange student who wants to get the jokes, and laughs along when everyone else laughs, just so she won't appear like she's not understanding. In reality, though, nothing makes sense and she just feels awkward, a little bored and ready for the evening to be over so she can just go home and watch dvd's in her native language.
For some reason, this book me forever to finish. I enjoyed it whenever I read it, but I keep finding something else to read. It's a collection of McInerney's columns for House & Garden about wine. And man, did it make me want to drink. A lot. I mean while reading it, I sort of wanted to dedicate the next five years of my life to traveling around the world to drink all these fantastic wines I've never heard of. While he's mostly talking about wines I've never and probably will never drink, his writing was accessible and engaging - no nose in the air wine snobbery here. Now I'm gonna go find me a drink.