Red, White and Drunk All Over – Natalie Maclean

Non-Fiction
Paperback from Amazon.com - $3.99!!

Buy it if: You have a casual interest in wine but not enough to pore over the Wine Advocate or learn French.

Don’t buy it if: You’re either an intense oenophile or don’t care at all about the difference between Chardonnay and Syrah

There are hundreds of wine ‘How-To’ books lining the shelves of your local Barnes and Noble and filling the pages of Amazon.com. They range from massive ‘wine bible’ catalogs to oenophile-catering niche titles that tell tales of obscure chateaus and famous bottles of dusty Petrus that you’ll never get to try anyway… But Natalie Maclean somehow manages to bridge these two worlds with an excitement, enthusiasm and depth that is neither patronizing of those with some background on the subject, nor over-reaching for the casual drinker with a minor interest in fermented grape juice. In short, it’s the perfect book for those with a passing interest in wine that really don’t want to dedicate hours (and dollars) towards tastings, trips to out-of-the-way shops and hundreds upon hundreds of wine reviews. If you want to get excited about wine without feeling intimidated, she nails it.

Despite coming in at just a bit over 300 pages, the book moves quickly. Educational sections flow into travelogues detailing her visits with the vibrant characters that populate the wine world – wine sellers, sommeliers and wine makers to name a few. And each trip is elegantly used to explore some other aspect of wine, so that by the end the journey she's left you both excited and educated. It’s a very ‘learn by doing’ approach that’s the vinous equivalent of Apex Technical Institute, the ubiquitous DeVry knockoff that gives you a different tool at the completion of each course, leaving you with some basic equipment to complement the degree. Not only does Maclean make wine intriguing, she gives you a vocabulary and history that makes further personal exploration a much less daunting prospect.

Even better, Natalie isn’t trying to be objective. She has opinions and encourages the reader to have them, too. She makes it personal in the best kind of way. While much snootier wine-writing focuses on the tasting and tasting only, she discusses the elephant in the wine cellar that most ‘serious’ wine writers seem to avoid: It’ll get you buzzed – flat-out drunk if you want - and it’s OK to enjoy that aspect of wine drinking as well. One can’t help but get the feeling that if your ideal drinking experience is getting quietly soused with a bottle of Yellow Tail Merlot while watching ‘The Bachelor’ on TV she’ be completely supportive – provided you have a good reason for your choice. And if you don’t, it’s time to give her a read, as you might have a good deal of fun finding a better beverage to accompany your viewing experience.

Make no mistake, Natalie Maclean is very well-respected wine critic and offers her own Robert Parker-esque newsletter for public consumption. (Nataliemaclean.com) But her welcoming writing style and approachable explanations give you the sense that she’s on your side, which isn’t something you get from a lot of food writers. And there’s a story, that makes my day every time.

This is easily one of the best books I read in 2008. To borrow from the wine review style: I’d give it a 93/100 with notes of ease and intrigue that aren’t masked by over-metaphored phrasing. Light at first taste before gaining significant depth. The only thing missing is a longer finish.