A little into the Introduction I stop to pour myself a glass of wine. Already the passionate, honest beauty of Natalie MacLean’s love affair with wine is contagious. Being a complete wine neophyte, reading a book about wine can seem intimidating. But when you are told that a glass of Brunello tastes “like a sigh at the end of a long day” you begin to lose your fear of the deep. Red, White and Drunk All Over (Natalie MacLean (Bloomsbury, Rs 750) is amusing, interesting and sensual all at once, without being pretentious.
This collection of stories and experiences from Champagne, Burgundy, California, New York and San Francisco are filled with delicious facts and told with a sense of humour that make it a pleasurable read. MacLean’s travels begin in Burgundy, famous for its ‘heartbreak grape’ (Pinot Noir). It’s a journey towards understanding the importance of why wine tastes the way it does and how land, weather and minerals in the soil shape a wine’s character. The French call it terroir.
The difference between Old World vineyards and New World winemakers, their histories and the nuances that make them different and special, are woven into narratives — Italian immigrants leaving for California with the Zinfandel grape; the Bonny Doon Vineyard wine called ‘the Big House’ because it’s grown near a California State prison; the Champagne widows who took over the businesses after losing their husbands to illness or wars. The next time I buy a bottle of wine, I may not remember the best vintage years but these stories will remain and make it special.