He poured the brunello, a rich robe of mahogany, into two tumblers with none of the pretentious sniffing and approval ceremony. When the owner opened the bottle tableside, the pop of the cork seemed to pierce something inside me and relieve a little pressure. We were relieved not to have to tackle the wine list: neither of us knew much more about wine than which fluffy animals on the label we liked best. We thought at first it was a regional dish, but it turned out to be a red wine from central Italy. The first time we went there, the owner, a tall, burly man with fierce dark eyes, asked us if we’d like to try the brunello. We dined out a lot and our favorite place was a small Italian restaurant around the corner from our apartment in Toronto. My future husband, Andrew, and I had just graduated from university and were enjoying our “wealth” relative to our student days. I remember the night I tasted my first good wine. "synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title. She looks at the influence of powerful critics, notably Robert Parker and Jancis Robinson, invites readers into her dining room for an informal wine tasting, and compares collecting notes at a bacchanalian dinner with novelist Jay McInerney.Īs funny and engaging as she is knowledgeable, Natalie has an unconventional wit, curiosity, and obsession with all things related to wine that make for a tour both amusing and informative, from grape to bottle to glass. She pulls on sturdy boots to help with the harvest at the vineyards of iconoclastic Californian winemaker Randall Grahm and goes undercover as sommelier for a night in a five-star restaurant with a wine list the thickness of a phone book. She visits the labyrinthine cellars of Champagne to examine the myths and the mystique of luxury bubbly and the grandes dames who made it the drink of celebration the world over.
In Red, White, and Drunk All Over, Natalie travels to the ancient vineyards of Burgundy to uncover the secrets of the pinot noir, the "heartbreak grape" from which some of the most coveted and expensive wines in the world are made. After three years of sipping, spitting, and slogging her way through bushy vine leaves and cellar cobwebs, award-winning writer Natalie MacLean takes readers behind the scenes of the international wine world, exploring its history, visiting its most evocative places, and meeting some of its most charismatic personalities.
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