A Summer Wine Reading List

The wine books that will will take you through this glorious season

Here in Oregon, we are smack dab in the middle of climate paradise. It’s early July and it is a constant 80-92 degrees with evenings getting down into the 60s. It’s so damn pleasant and compared with the wet and damp we experience from October to April, it’s a tiime of year we look forward to.

For me, that means sitting in my backyard and reading. My trips to the library are more regular in the summer. Right now I am consuming Stephen Ambrose’s “Nothing Like It In the World: The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad”.

So, along this path, I thought I’d offer my SUMMER WINE READING LIST for those looking for something good and winey to consume while they sit outside during the late afternoon and evenings this summer. Following are my picks for wine books that explore various aspects of the wine experience and that are very well-written and engaging. Enjoy!

THE MAD CRUSH: AN OBSCURE CALIFORNIA VINEYARD AND THE QUEST TO MAKE ONE GREAT WINE. (2015)
By Sean Weir
Weir worked the 1995 harvest at Saucelito Canyon Vineyard, and this is his intimate tale of the person who brought the century-old vineyard back to life over the course of 20 years, as well as the people who helped him. Weir is a very good writer. The book is inspiring. I read it in a single sitting and wanted more. (BUY)

THE FAR SIDE OF EDEN: NEW MONEY, OLD LAND, AND THE BATTLE FOR NAPA VALLEY (2002)
By James Conaway
First, Conaway is a brilliant writer and keen observer. And he has an opinion. This was his follow-up to his best seller, “Napa” and in it he goes after the people and icons that many associate with the “Disneyfication” of the Valley with their new money and their ostentatious wineries and privileged attitudes. He tells the story of the battles between the newcomers and the old timers and how this battle impacts the land and the people who make Napa home. I think of Conaway in the tradition of Hunter S. Thompson, but he is a much better writer, has a much better-defined perspective, and knows how to weave a tale better than Thompson. (BUY)

OVER A BARREL: THE RISE AND FALL OF NEW YORK’S TAYLOR WINE COMPANY (2015)
By Thomas Pellechia
How to destroy an iconic winery and kill off a region’s economic powerhouse. This is the story that reporter and writer Thomas Pellechia tells as he writes the story of Taylor Wine Company, a concern that began in the late 19th century in the Finger Lakes area of NY, grew to become one of the top-ten wineries, then was eventually sold off to the Coca Cola…then to others. But it’s not just a story of how to kill of a winery. It’s a story of a region and a family. Thomas is a very good writer and the book moves quickly. (BUY)

THE QUESTION OF TASTE: THE PHILOSOPHY OF WINE (2007)
Edited by Barry C. Smith, foreword by Jancis Robinson
The Philosophy of Wine explores questions that are sometimes touched upon in mainstream wine writing but never explored to the depth they deserve. This book of essays dos this. We get essays about the meaning of connoisseurship, how language and words can (and cannot) convey what a wine is, subjectivity, the effort to describe a solitary sensual experience, what “quality” means, etc. We get essays by the great Roger Scruton, Jamie Good, Andrew Jeffords, and Paul Draper. At times, the esoteric in the essays asks us to slow our reading. That’s ok. That’s what summer reading is for. (BUY)

WHAT MAKES A WINE WORTH DRINKING: IN PRAISE OF THE SUBLIME (2018)
By Terry Theise
Theise is here for all of you who believe that the wine that can have meaning, real meaning, is the wine that is crafted, that tells a story of people and place and persistence. One of the most thoughtful people in the world of wine, Theise asks us to have a relationship with the wines we drink. He wants us to experience them. And he wants us to ignore the industrial. The importer/writer writes beautifully as he explains the ways and means of “authenticity”. This is a book that will compel you to start seeking out something new and original—or at least renew that search. (BUY)

POSTMODERN WINEMAKING: RETHINKING THE MODERN SCIENCE OF AN ANCIENT CRAFT (2013)
By Clark Smith
First and foremost, Clark is a winemaker. But he is also a teacher, a researcher, a businessman, and a very good writer. This is his opus. It’s his philosophy of wine and winemaking and confirmation of his iconoclastic status. Postmodern Winemaking is an attempt to show how great winemaking is a melding of art, science, and craft: we can demonstrate and embrace the art of winemaking by taking seriously and incorporating the new science and technology of wine. As Clark goes through the different approaches to and aspects of winemaking, he gets technical. But he also incorporates philosophy, a critic’s eye, and some very good humor. Reading Clark Smith is a delight (and necessity) for anyone with a serious interest in modern winemaking. (BUY)