| Red,
White & Drunk All Over by
Natalie MacLean
Doubleday
Canada | 978-0-385-66154-6
| $29.95 (HC)
Award-winning
writer Natalie MacLean sweeps readers behind the
scenes of the international wine world, visiting
its most evocative places and meeting its most
charismatic personalities. Red, White, and Drunk
All Over showcases the engaging wit, investigative
curiosity, and sharp eye for obsessive passion
that has made her free e-newsletter Nat Decants
one of the most popular in North America.
|
Photo © Michelle Valberg
|
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|  Natalie
tastes sensuous pinot noir in the ancient cellars
of Burgundy while discovering the mysterious tenets
of biodynamic viticulture from such colourful characters
as the tiny, ferocious Lalou Bize-Leroy, part-owner
of France's acclaimed Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. She pulls on
sturdy boots to help with the grape harvest at California’s
Bonny Doon Vineyards–and gets to the root of
the anti-establishment philosophy of owner Randall
Grahm, notorious for his experimental wine techniques,
love for unfashionable grapes, and fondness for naming
his wines "Cardinal Zin,"; "Heart
Has its Rieslings,"; and "Big House Red"; (whose
grapes are grown just down the road from one of California’s
state prisons).
Natalie
takes a job as undercover sommelier at a five-star
French restaurant, spends a day helping customers
in a high-end New York wine shop, wades into a famous
feud between Robert Parker and Jancis Robinson, two
of the world’s best-known
critics and, back home, invites friends over for
a casual wine tasting. Along the way she teaches
us–painlessly and often hilariously–how
to face a telephone directory-sized wine list without
fear, what questions to ask to get exactly the wine
you are looking, what those scores out of 100 really
mean, and how properly to expectorate (it’s
best to start out in the shower!)
This
wine-soaked blend of Kitchen Confidential and Sideways is a fascinating tour from the grape to the glass
that will drive readers to drink. And think. And
laugh.
more...
PRAISE
"A
refreshingly accessible and good-humored entrée
into the world of fine wine."
–Kirkus Reviews
"A quirky ride. . . . With patience and lightness,
MacLean explains terroir and tannins, acidity and fruit,
oak and smoke as she tries to demystify wine. . . .
The book is like dry champagne, a sparkling aperitif
that whets the appetite for more vinous knowledge.";
–Quill & Quire
"There's everything here: old stories
and new, an enquiring mind and bags of enthusiasm."
–Hugh Johnson, author of The World Atlas
of Wine, A Life Uncorked, and others
"Who better than Natalie MacLean to lead us through
the world of wine? She takes us to the best vineyards
and the deepest cellars, knows hot to spot the eccentric
geniuses and charms them as she charms us, with self-deprecating,
irreverent prose and steely objectivity. Above all,
she reminds us that behind the oenology and the marketing
hype, wine is a warm and sensual treasure, to be drunk — and
written about — with love."
–James Chatto, Toronto Life Magazine restaurant
critic, author of The Greek for Love
"The ideal way to deepen one's appreciation of
wine would be to taste and discuss with the people
who make the stuff. Natalie MacLean does just that,
and reports her adventures in a style as accessible
as your favorite pop song. There are revelations galore,
and the Randall Grahm conversation especially should
be printed across the sky."
—Kermit Lynch, author of Adventures on
the Wine Route: A Wine Buyer’s Tour of France
"Natalie MacLean is a voluptuary. Her reactions
are deeply physical. But Natalie also has brains. So
when she takes you on a journey to meet the most interesting
people in the world of wine, be prepared to learn everything
there is to know about wine — while gleefully
abandoning your inhibitions."
—Louisa Thomas Hargrave, author of The
Vineyard: a memoir
"Red, White, and Drunk All Over is
an engaging and very accessible guide to the world
of wine. Natalie MacLean takes on the dual role of
drinking companion and advisor as we travel with her
to individual vinyards and wineries in France and California.
Along the way we meet, and then quickly develop personal
feelings for, the growers, the wine-makers, the vines
themselves, and the wines they produce."
—Naomi Duguid, co-author of Mangoes & Curry
Leaves, HomeBaking; Hot Sour Salty Sweet
"Beginning in fabled Burgundy and ending with
a dinner in New York with novelist and wine writer
Jay McInerney, Natalie MacLean writes about wine with
an almost concupiscent glee. Hopscotching from
wine region to winery to wine boutique, interviewing
everyone in the world of wine from winemakers to purveyors
to critics, Red, White and Drunk All Over is
an eclectic compendium of loosely-woven pieces about
everything concerning wine. Never pedantic,
but always erudite and eminently readable, MacLean's
book is a terrific beginning for the inchoate wine
connoisseur. Here one will find advice and information
on everything from cellaring to proper stemware, how
to order wine in a restaurant, differentiations of
grape varieties and regions, the myths of winespeak,
and much more; in other words, a great jumping-off
point for more serious exploration if one becomes so
inclined. After reading this book, the wine neophyte
is likely to, so enthusiastic about her love for the
grape is MacLean."
—Rex Pickett, author of Sideways,
made into the Oscar-nominated movie
"Teetotalers, beware! Natalie MacLean's
book is such an engaging and delightful read that it's
bound to make a wine lover out of everyone who picks
it up. We found the entertaining and instructive
stories of how wine is made, evaluated, and enjoyed
-- featuring some of the wine world's biggest personalities
-- almost as delicious as drinking one of our favorite
bottles with dinner. This book is an absolute
gem."
—Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page, James Beard
Award-winning authors of Becoming
a Chef, Culinary Artistry and What
to Drink with What You Eat
"Natalie MacLean is a true original.
She combines her vast knowledge of wine with a keen
eye for a good story and great wit. I raise my glass
to her."
—Bonnie Stern, award-winning and bestselling
author of HeartSmart, Bonnie
Stern’s Essentials of Home Cooking
"Natalie has taken a brilliant approach to this
book. It is highly entertaining, full of great stories
that reveal the people, the places and the things that
matter most about wine. You will learn just about everything
you need to know without even realizing it. A must
read for beginners and experts alike"
—John Szabo, Master Sommelier
"Robert Parker to Jay McInerny, Burgundy to Zinfandel,
Natalie MacLean wears her heart on her sleeve as she
journeys into the minds and mysteries of wine personalities
around the world. While on the trail, she pauses to
step into her own fantasies by taking a brief whirl
at wine retailing by day and dispensing advice as a
sommelier at night. Full of vinous insight, this is
a great read for the wine savvy, the thirsty adventurer,
the gossip hounds and those who want to understand
the world of wine from a more human aspect."
—Lucy Waverman, Globe and Mail food columnist
and award-winning author of A Matter of Taste,
and other books
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