A passionate and informative guide to wine for beginners and wine enthusiasts alike, told in a fun and accessible manner.
Natalie MacLean has a passion for wine. This is evident from the first page of her book, Red, White and Drunk All Over: A Wine-Soaked Journey from Grape to Glass. This book presents wine to both the casual drinker and the long-time connoisseur, in a way that manages to be both highly informative and highly engaging.
MacLean's book is much like a good friend sharing her heartfelt obsession with you; you are able to feel her genuine passion for wine. She translates her first fine wine drinking experience into pure literary poetry, "the aroma of the wine rushed out to meet me and all the smells I had ever known fell away". This is clearly a sensual and evocative way to get even a novice wine sipper interested in what is to follow.
Read as A Wine Guide
Obviously, this book is meant to be read as a manual for optimum wine and food pairing choices. However, there is so much more to this book than a typical stuffy wine history book. There is no doubt that MacLean is an expert in all things wine and she knows her stuff. Still, there is no pretentious language - the reader genuinely feels comfortable in MacLean's wine-centric world as a welcome and invited guest.
The basics are covered well: from wine production, the marketing of wine, wine tasting and the experience of sharing it with friends and family. There is also a chapter devoted entirely to champagne, which reads so well, one might believe they are reading something more appropriately titled, Ode to Champagne.
Read as A Memoir
It is difficult to read this book as strictly an informative guide to wine. This book provides a journey of parallels: the process of wine-making along side the story of one woman's love affair with wine. Each wine tidbit is given in the context of a personal story, which makes this book so engaging and fun to read. The simple idea that a drink can forever cement a moment of our lives into our memories is a universal experience that MacLean finds the perfect words for.
Red, White and Drunk All Over truly is the perfect pairing of information and entertainment by someone who masters both areas with perfection. Natalie also has a companion website where she distills plenty of wine advice, including wine and food pairing, a glossary of wine-based terms and even a job board for those looking for a career in the food and wine industry.
Book Stats:
Red, White and Drunk All Over: A Wine-Soaked Journey from Grape to Glass by Natalie MacLean
Paperback, 304 pages
Published by Bloomsbury, 2006
ISBN# 1582346496
