Wine Politics: How Governments, Environmentalists, Mobsters, and Critics Influence the Wines We Drink
- ISBN13: 9780520255210
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description
After reading this intriguing book, a glass of wine will be more than hints of blackberries or truffles on the palate. Written by the author of the popular, award-winning website DrVino.com, Wine Politics exposes a little-known but extremely influential aspect of the wine business–the politics behind it. Tyler Colman systematically explains how politics affects what we can buy, how much it costs, how it tastes, what appears on labels, and more. He offers an insightful comparative view of wine-making in Napa and Bordeaux, tracing the different paths American and French wines take as they travel from vineyard to dining room table. Colman also explores globalization in the wine business and illuminates the role of behind-the-scenes players such as governments, distributors, and prominent critics who wield enormous clout. Throughout, Wine Politics reveals just how deeply politics matters– right down to the taste of the wine in your glass tonight.
D. Speer
March 11th, 2010 at 2:38 am #
After working in the wine industry for 7 years I found this book to be a refresher at best. If you don’t know much about how the industry works its a great primer, but if you have a good idea of what’s going on the book is a bit lacking. I would have like to seen more depth in many chapters.
Rating: 3 / 5
J. Lefevere
March 11th, 2010 at 3:17 am #
Starting this book and reading it cover to cover would get a wine novice up to speed and conversant across subject matter that is frequently difficult to penetrate. In addition, the author’s writing is incredibly insightful, lucid and accessible.
My Top 10 List of things that are interesting about Wine Politics -
10) The author paraphrases the all time famous opening line to a book –Dickens’ from a Tale of Two Cities, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” Doing so in HIS opening line is a wonderful, slightly funny, insider homage to Dickens and other writers.
9) On page 23, the author attributes the first successful commercial wine operation to John James Dufour in Vevay, Indiana. This is a fact I believe to be true, but other historians do not acknowledge it in the same context. Indiana is the home of the first successful viticulture in the U.S.
7) On page 76, the author notes that Napa Valley become the second AVA in 1981. Augusta, Missouri beat them to the punch for the first designated AVA. Another interesting factoid.
6) Chapter 4 should be required reading for every wine lover for the in-depth, but easy to understand explanation of the dynamics of big and small wineries and how that wine gets to our table
5) On page 110, aside from the extracted wines that are largely attributed to Robert Parker (which gets good coverage here, as well), the author summarizes the balance of the wine industry that is polarizing for many enthusiasts in one fell swoop, in regards to large corporations like Constellation and E& J Gallo, he says, “All of these corporations regard wine as a brand.”
4) On page 114, the author notes that the first genetically modified yeast strain for wine, ML01, is available in the U.S. An interesting fact that I did not know that is even more interesting given our current fascination with food origins and natural winemaking
3) On page 118, the author paraphrases and quotes noted macro-economist John Maynard Keynes, a noted 20th century thinker and translates that to wine reviews with the following mention, ” … to try to predict the winner of a lineup of one hundred contestants in a beauty contest, the best tactic is to `favor an average definition of beauty rather than a personal one.’”
2) On page 136, the author distills Biodynamics down to one succinct, understandable sentence: “Biodynamics takes a holistic approach to establishing a self-regulating ecosystem, with few or no external inputs and nothing going to waste.”
1) The footnotes run 16 pages. The bibliography runs 6 pages. Rarely do you see this level of research and detail. Impressive.
Wine Politics is a fantastic book – a book that every wine lover should read and a book that, undoubtedly, will make its way onto college wine program curriculum and reading lists. If you are interested in learning the dynamics and back-story of how and why wine gets to our table in the manner that it does, in a way that is understandable and concisely explained, I cannot think of a better book to help guide you down the path to greater understanding.
Rating: 5 / 5
pgh_reviewer86
March 11th, 2010 at 5:05 am #
This brief but concise book provides a very interesting perspective and history of the wine industry in France and the U.S. Tyler Colman tells a fascinating story of wine politics and the history behind what has been available to us as consumers and why. My only minor knock is the anti-Parker sentiment and the points made regarding the decline of the 100 point rating system and the superior quality of organic wines were, in my opinion, more the writer’s personal opinion than fact. But I would still recommend this book. It definitely deserves a place on any wine lover’s bookshelf.
Rating: 4 / 5
ReportMonkey
March 11th, 2010 at 7:16 am #
I enjoyed it very much. I particulary liked the comparisons between the US and France. That made it a more interesting read than just a run down of all the crooked politicians, greedy wholesalers, and colorful criminals that inhabit the wine world.
Rating: 4 / 5
Aditya Gupta
March 11th, 2010 at 9:20 am #
This book is a great read and definitely recommended to any Wine
aficionados. In the preface, Tyler does mention that if you are
looking to resolve your personal conflicts between the Red / White
wine or find your political orientation, then this book is NOT for you.
To an extend I agree but again I encourage all wine lovers of all kinds to go ahead and pick a copy of this book.
To be honest, my opinion might be a bit biased as I have had the
pleasure to take a Wine course with him at NYU and had been looking
forward to this book for a bit now. It was great fun to be part of
Tyler’s class as he took us on wonderful journey of Wine Culture and
Tasting. His ability to take a very intimidating topic of Wine and make
it very easy for amateurs is amazing. He does the same in this book as
his passion and knowledge of the subject is palpable.
Kudos to Dr. Vino on this book. To many more years of exploration of
Wine world.
Cheers
[...]
Rating: 5 / 5