The Accidental Connoisseur: An Irreverent Journey Through the Wine World

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Synopsis
“Witty, sometimes withering, learned and often loopy musings on the world of fine wine . . . an excellent drinking companion.” —Adam Sachs, NewsdayWhat is taste? Is it individual or imposed on us from the outside? Why are so many of us so intimidated when presented with the wine list at a restaurant? In The Accidental Connoisseur, journalist Lawrence Osborne takes off on a personal voyage through a little-known world in pursuit of some answers. Weaving together a fantastic cast of eccentrics and obsessives, industry magnates and small farmers, the author explores the way technological change, opinionated critics, consumer trends, wheelers and dealers, trade wars, and mass market tastes have made the elixir we drink today entirely different from the wine drunk by our grandparents.In his search for wine that is a true expression of the place that produced it, Osborne takes the reader from the high-tech present to the primitive past. From a lavish lunch with wine tsar Robert Mondavi to the cellars of Marquis Piero Antinori in Florence, from the tasting rooms of Chateau Lafite to the humble vineyards of northern Lazio, Osborne winds his way through Renaissance palaces, $27 million wineries, tin shacks and garages, opulent restaurants, world-famous chais and vineyards, renowned villages and obscure landscapes, as well as the great cities which are the temples of wine consumption: New York, San Francisco, Paris, Florence, and Rome. On the way, we will be shown the vast tapestry of this much-desired, little-understood drink: who produces it and why, who consumes it, who critiques it? Enchanting, delightful, entertaining, and, above all, down to earth, this is a wine book like no other.
Copyright:
2004

Book Details

Book Quality:
Publisher Quality
Book Size:
274 Pages
ISBN-13:
9781429935111
Related ISBNs:
9780865476332
Publisher:
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Date of Addition:
Copyrighted By:
Lawrence Osborne
Adult content:
No
Language:
English
Has Image Descriptions:
No
Categories:
Nonfiction, Travel, Cooking, Food and Wine, Technology, Social Studies
Submitted By:
Bookshare Staff
Usage Restrictions:
This is a copyrighted book.

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