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Book Nook provides readers with insights into the world of books. Vick Mickunas takes you into the center of the publishing world with the latest book buzz, book reviews, and exclusive chats with authors..Home > Blogs > Book Nook > Archives > 2008 > May > 18 > Entry
the daze of wine and roses…
“The Battle for Wine and Love or How I Saved the World from Parkerization” by Alice Feiring, Harcourt, 271 pages, $23.
“The Billionaire’s Vinegar — the Mystery of the World’s Most Expensive Bottle of Wine” by Benjamin Wallace, Crown, 319 pages, $25.
Wine consumption in the United States continues to rise as more Americans discover the pleasures of this ancient beverage. Our domestic wine industry can produce wines that compare favorably with some of the best vintages from France and Italy.
Two new books focus on different aspects of the passions that have aroused wine lovers. “The Battle for Wine and Love or How I Saved the World from Parkerization” by Alice Feiring recounts how the author fell in love with wines and describes her quest to track the source for her first memorable tasting experience.
Feiring’s journey to becoming a wine writer began when she tasted a 1968 Italian Barolo made by a producer named Scanavino. Years later, she decided to find that man. She went to Italy and sought to meet him to tell him how much his wine had changed her life.
She writes in a witty, confessional style about her adventures driving through the wine regions of France and Italy in pursuit of wines made according to the old traditions. Feiring is on a mission here. She is convinced that winemakers are so influenced by the opinions of Robert Parker, the world’s leading wine critic, that they are doing all sorts of unnatural things to their wines to try to snare high ratings from Parker.
She brings passion to her struggle to overcome his powerful influence. Parker’s opinions have actually impacted the way many wines are being made. She wants to tell him: “Please do not continue to contribute to the dumbing down of the wine world.”
In 1985 in New York, an auction record was set for the world’s most expensive bottle of wine. It is a record that still stands. Benjamin Wallace tells the fascinating story behind this high-priced vintage in “The Billionaire’s Vinegar — the Mystery of the World’s Most Expensive Bottle of Wine.”
That bottle of wine was reputed to have belonged to Thomas Jefferson. A cache of extremely rare 200-year-old wines was found hidden away in Paris. The bottles bore Jefferson’s initials. Jefferson was the first great American wine expert.
Hardy Rodenstock, a German wine merchant, found those “Jefferson” wines. He ran a thriving business selling rare French wines to affluent wine collectors around the world. He had an amazing knack for locating highly desired vintages in the strangest places. Michael Broadbent, the respected British wine expert, was the auctioneer who sold that pricey bottle. He vouched for its authenticity.
Those were precious drops of collector wine. One wine merchant, Bill Sokolin, broke a bottle supposedly worth half a million. His wife understood how he felt, “she accidentally broke an 1874 Lafite. She and Bill had literally lapped it up off the floor.”
And such a lucrative business, “Wine was among the easiest collectibles to fake.” Were the Jefferson bottles real or just a lovely swindle? We might never know.
“The Billionaire’s Vinegar” reads like some bizarre detective story. Wallace unearths the reality behind a thriving counterfeit wine business that continues to dupe unwitting wine lovers.
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