April 3, 2006 - Recent Wine Books worth a read

Since this is a blog on wine, I thought it might be worth sharing a few good reads as of late.

The Emperor of Wine - The rise of Robert M. Parker, JR.
Whichever camp ( pro or anti Parker ) you belong in, this biography of RMP is a must read. While I am told some of the facts in this book are not quite correct - it still a thoroughly enjoying read. The reader gets sucked into the wine world with its myriad of colorful characters. 94pts

The Accidental Connoissuer - An Irreverant Journey through the wine world.
The title is exactly how it reads, an almost random romp through wine world. Charming & witty at times however be prepared for more than a few "boring patches". 88pts

Inspiring Thirst
The winehunter's favorite in this lot. Kermit is the GRANDADDY of all Winehunters. Names like Chave, Jayer, Clape, DRC... The man has been through them all except he did it 30 years ago! This book is a collection of 30 years worth of Kermit Lynch's newletters highlighting wines in his unmistakable style. Reading through the newsletters is like going through a time machine.
In one of them he talks about bottle shock and how things got much better after he started shipping wines by refrigeterated containers (aka reefers) this was years ago. What a pioneer - wine merchants take heed - you know who you are. Check out the price of some Henri Jayer's wines back then!! 96pts.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Adventures in Italy

Image
We only spent one night in Rome and that was the gastronomic low point of the trip. Thinking we couldn't go wrong by picking the most crowded joint in the vicinity.... oops bad luck. We just could not understand why there were so many people. Maybe they served the leftovers to the tourists? The fish was stale and the lamb was pretty sad as well. Sub-standard food, expensive and mediocre service ( restaurant pictured below). One of the best places in terms of food was in the town of Lucca. Over lunch we went to this lovely little place called "Canuleia". The fresh vegetable salad with burrata cheese was lovely. Being quite creamy on the inside, the cheese liquids gets mixed up with the olive oil and vegetables outside resulting in a lovely dressing - I'm sure it was deliberate. Last but not least, a lovely wine from Tenuta Campo di Sasso called Insiglio . You may not have heard of this outfit but this is where Lodovico Antinori went when his beloved Ornelia was sold. ...
Read more

Henri Jayer, Meo Camuzet & Emmanuel Rouget - what's the connection

Image
These 3 producers often seem intertwined together and spoken in the same breath. What is the relationship here? Well, another walk down history is in order. Henri Jayer was born in Vosne Romanee in 1922. In the late 1930's Henri helped his father Eugene tend the vineyards and in 1942 married Marcelle Rouget. Right at the end of WWII, Henri Jayer made a deal with the Camuzet family to tend their Premier Cru and Grand Cru parcels and produce wine for them. The catch was that Henri would keep 50%  under his own labels. Among these vineyards were Echezeaux, Richebourg and the famed Cros Parantoux 1er Cru.  Cros Parantoux was born in 1978 solely due to the efforts of Henri Jayer and alot of dynamite!! Location-wise it is sandwiched in between "Le Barreaux" on top, Richebourg below and "Le Petite Mons" to the left of it.  Stylistically it has more than a passing resemblance to Richebourg. Starting in the late '80s Jean-Nicolas Meo started working the Meo-Camuzet p...
Read more

Dinner with Lodovico Antinori & Tenuta di Biserno

A few years back, I mentioned about a wine that stood out on a trip to Tuscany. That wine was called Isoglio del Cinghiale. After some fact checking, the people behind this winery were none other than Lodovico & Piero Antinori - the previous owner(s) of Tenuta Ornellia. Fast forward almost 2.5 years later and we had a very special treat - dinner with Lodovico in person. Insoglio is basically their everyday drinking product. Up until 2005, it was a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petite Verdot and Cab. Franc. Starting in 2006, Syrah was added to the blend and by 2007 I believe Cabernet Sauvignon was completely eliminated. Going forward from the 2007 the blend of varietals have pretty much "settled" in. Given the price point of this wine which is ~ EUR15, no complaints. More than acceptable as an everyday quaffer. Next up is the Il Pino di Biserno which is a more Bordeaux-like blend and does not contain any Syrah unlike the Insoglio. This is a much more complex wine a...
Read more