First published 2004
What makes us fear the wine list at restaurants? Journalist Lawrence Osborne sets out to answer this question through a personal journey across the wine world. He explores how technology, critics, consumer trends, and mass market forces have transformed wine into something completely different from what previous generations drank. Osborne searches for wines that truly reflect their origins, moving from high tech facilities to ancient methods. His travels take him from luxurious meals with wine mogul Robert Mondavi to the historic cellars of Marquis Piero Antinori in Florence. He visits the tasting rooms at Chateau Lafite and modest vineyards in northern Lazio. The journey winds through Renaissance palaces, multimillion dollar wineries, simple shacks and garages, fine restaurants, famous wine estates, and celebrated villages. Osborne reveals the complex network behind wine production, consumption, and criticism across wine capitals like New York, San Francisco, Paris, Florence, and Rome.
Genres: travel, non-fiction, 21st-century, food-and-drink
Vibes: intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: personal-journey
Setting: New York, San Francisco, Paris, Florence, Rome, Lazio
Period: 21st-century
272 pages · Hardcover · North Point Press