This ia a highly recommended read. Ostensibly about winemaking, it bears some resemblance to Neil Rosenthal’s "Reflections of a Wine Merchant." In common with that book, Esposito laments the effects of wine critics like Robert Parker on the way wine is made, sold and enjoyed. The scoring systems and vapid vocabulary of flavors, such as "woodsy," and "redolent of tobacco, cedar and truffles," are imcomprehensible to the winemakers and personalities who inhabit this book. They, like Esposito, view wine as a "living thing," which like all of us are imperfect, not quantifiable, and ever evolving and changing over many decades. After reading this book, you feel as if you have dined, driven and lived with unforgettable characters from all over Italy. Perfect summer reading!

posted Jun 21, 2008 at 1:32PM

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