Harcourt, Inc.
Available: 05/05/08
5.31 x 8 · 256 pages
978-0-15-101286-2
CDN $29.95 · cl

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The Battle for Wine and Love

or How I Saved the World from Parkerization

Alice Feiring

“I want my wines to tell a good story. I want them natural and most of all, like my dear friends, I want them to speak the truth even if we argue,” says Alice Feiring. Join her as she sets off on her one-woman crusade against the tyranny of homogenization, wine consultants, and, of course, the 100-point scoring system of a certain all-powerful wine writer.

Traveling through the ancient vineyards of the Loire and Champagne, to Piedmont and Spain, Feiring goes in search of authentic barolo, the last old-style rioja, and the tastiest new terroir-driven champagnes. She reveals just what goes into the average bottle—the reverse osmosis, the yeasts and enzymes, the sawdust and oak chips—and why she doesn’t find much to drink in California. And she introduces rebel winemakers who are embracing old-fashioned techniques and making wines with individuality and soul.

No matter what your palate, travel the wine world with Feiring and you’ll have to ask yourself: What do I really want in my glass?

ALICE FEIRING (New York City) is a James Beard Foundation Award-winning journalist whose blog, In Vino Veritas, was named one of the seven best by Food & Wine. Formerly the wine/travel columnist for Time, she writes for the New York Times, the San Francisco Chronicle and Gourmet, among many others.