Families of the Vine : Seasons Among the Winemakers of Southwest France

From Publishers Weekly
One night, Sanders (From Here, You Can't See Paris) sat outside a hotel in southwestern France. An old Frenchman explained to the American that he had no use for wine criticism or the numerical rankings that hold sway in today's wine world: " 'Me, I say I like this wine or I don't like this wine.' " Sanders focuses on three winemakers in one of France's secondary wine regions, Cahors, following its "difficult" and "shy" eponymous wine (made primarily from the Malbec grape) from vine to barrel to glass. In doing so, he seeks to capture a way of life that existed before global marketing and the influence of the American wine critic Robert Parker, who devised the ranking system. Sanders shows the winemakers in the family-owned, family-run vineyards; describes the pathos of the harvest during the drought-ridden year of 2003; and even explains how barrels are made. Laced throughout this solid, affectionate portrait are unusual insights (e.g., "Built into the concept of terroir... is the simple acknowledgement that the French winemaker knows all this as a sailor knows from the way his boat moves through the water that his sails are trimmed as they should be"). Sanders succeeds in showing us that a knowledge of wine really can't be imparted by experts, that it takes firsthand experience and time. (Apr.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Book Description

From the author

A few friends, a good meal, a glass of wine -- what could be a more simple pleasure? Why then does the subject of wine -- and particularly writing about wine -- often seem so darn complicated, so needlessly technical or frustratingly pretentious? In this book I wanted to tell a different story about wine, share my experience of two years spent among French winemakers and vineyards -- two years in which I discovered that the story of wine from vine to glass is as much the story of the people who make it, their history and traditions, their intimacy with the land, as it is a tale of yeast, grape, and barrel. Happily, it is also, in the small family vineyards where much French wine is made, a very warm, very human story.

The families of the book all work in southwest France growing malbec grapes, from which they have been making very good, very different wines for more than a hundred years. I followed them through the seasons, sharing the hopes of spring, the anguish of a summer drought and heat wave, the mad rush of the fall harvest, and then into the wine barns heady with the smells of fermentation. I learned about oak from a Bordeaux barrel maker, got advice on wine and food from the sommelier of a one-star restaurant, heard a dozen winemakers' notions of that maddeningly imprecise French concept of terroir.

What I discovered above all else was the winemakers' uncomplicated passion, their genuine enthusiasm for their craft, their desire that others understand their world and its meaning beyond the liquid in the glass. It is this passion that first drew me to this place and these people, and I hope you will come to feel it, too.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

A few friends, a good meal, a glass of wine -- what could be a more simple pleasure? Why then does the subject of wine -- and particularly writing about wine -- often seem so darn complicated, so needlessly technical or frustratingly pretentious? In this book I wanted to tell a different story about wine, share my experience of two years spent among French winemakers and vineyards -- two years in which I discovered that the story of wine from vine to glass is as much the story of the people who make it, their history and traditions, their intimacy with the land, as it is a tale of yeast, grape, and barrel. Happily, it is also, in the small family vineyards where much French wine is made, a very warm, very human story.

The families of the book all work in southwest France growing malbec grapes, from which they have been making very good, very different wines for more than a hundred years. I followed them through the seasons, sharing the hopes of spring, the anguish of a summer drought and heat wave, the mad rush of the fall harvest, and then into the wine barns heady with the smells of fermentation. I learned about oak from a Bordeaux barrel maker, got advice on wine and food from the sommelier of a one-star restaurant, heard a dozen winemakers' notions of that maddeningly imprecise French concept of terroir.

What I discovered above all else was the winemakers' uncomplicated passion, their genuine enthusiasm for their craft, their desire that others understand their world and its meaning beyond the liquid in the glass. It is this passion that first drew me to this place and these people, and I hope you will come to feel it, too.

FROM THE CRITICS

Library Journal

To the south of the more familiar Bordeaux region lie the vineyards of Cahors (pronounced CAH-or) that have also produced robust wines for over 1000 years. Sanders (From Here, You Can't See Paris) turns his talents to following several families there during the ups and downs of the winemaking year. Through conversations, a bit of history, and vivid descriptions of occurrences outside the vintners' control (e.g., the devastating 2003 drought), the author aptly illustrates how family traditions, French regulations, climate, business skills, and the winemaker's expertise contribute to each year's production. Like William Echikson's Noble Rot: A Bordeaux Wine Revolution, Sanders's book brings contemporary winemaking in France to life. The text concludes with a brief guide on where to stay, where to dine, and sample wines in the Cahors appellation. Absorbing and informative; for larger public libraries and special collections.-Andrea R. Dietze, Orange Cty. P.L., Santa Ana, CA Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

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