The Curious World of Wine: Facts, Legends, and Lore About the Drink We Love So Much - Hardcover

Vine, Richard, Ph.D.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0399537635 ISBN 13: 9780399537639

Publisher: Tarcherperigree, 2012

Synopsis

The Curious World of Wine is a fascinating miscellany about the colorful characters, celebrated places, and quirky events surrounding wine-making. Recounting wine tales that are by turns amusing, surprising, and occasionally a bit naughty, wine expert Richard Vine reveals little-known facts such as:

- The oldest vineyard still producing grapes is thought to be in Maribor, Slovenia, where vines up to four hundred years old remain fruitful.

- "Plonk," a term used to insult any modestly priced wine, got its name from the French words for white wine--vin blanc, pronounced "vawn blawnk," which was corrupted to "plawnk" or "plonk."

- Thomas Jefferson was so eager to plant native French vines at his Monticello mansion that he nearly went bankrupt fruitlessly hiring experts to defeat a condition that caused European vines to mysteriously die in North American soil.

- Touching wineglasses as a toast was originally a deft move to exchange a splash of wine into each other's cup to ensure that neither party was being poisoned.

The Curious World of Wine will keep any wine fan entertained and enlightened--from the most erudite connoisseur to Two Buck Chuck devotees.

About this title

Review:

"Profound knowledge, a lifetime passion for wine and a close personal relationship to many winemakers are reflected in this book. This is wine info-tainment at its best."--Dr. Thomas Driesberg, Director, Weinguter Wegeler, Germany

"Dr. Vine is uniquely qualified to enrich the saga that is wine with keen observation and deep understanding of the players and events he personally encountered . . ."--Agustin Huneeus, Proprietor, Quintessa Vineyards, Napa Valley, Veramonte Winery,

"Dick Vine had a brainwave: bottle up all the really juicy wine stories together and pour them with a sparkle."--Hugh Johnson, Author, The World Atlas of Wine -

"This excellent work reflects a passion. The enlightened wine connoisseur will find in this book a new way of thinking about the world of wine."--Christian POL-ROGER, Director, Champagne Pol-Roger, France

"Professor Vine's most entertaining recitals of the romance of wine reveal to us how important it has been in the daily lives of our ancestors. . ."--Jan Shrem, Founder/Proprietor, Clos Pegase Winery, Napa Valley

"Fact, lore and fantasy, Richard has seen, heard or drunk them all. . . and we get to tag along with glass in hand. Just Enjoy!" Joe Borello, President, Tasters Guild International
"Profound knowledge, a lifetime passion for wine and a close personal relationship to many winemakers are reflected in this book. This is wine info-tainment at its best." Dr. Thomas Driesberg, Director, Weinguter Wegeler, Germany
"Dr. Vine is uniquely qualified to enrich the saga that is wine with keen observation and deep understanding of the players and events he personally encountered . . ." Agustin Huneeus, Proprietor, Quintessa Vineyards, Napa Valley, Veramonte Winery,
"Dick Vine had a brainwave: bottle up all the really juicy wine stories together and pour them with a sparkle." Hugh Johnson, Author, The World Atlas of Wine -
"This excellent work reflects a passion. The enlightened wine connoisseur will find in this book a new way of thinking about the world of wine." Christian POL-ROGER, Director, Champagne Pol-Roger, France
"Professor Vine s most entertaining recitals of the romance of wine reveal to us how important it has been in the daily lives of our ancestors. . ." Jan Shrem, Founder/Proprietor, Clos Pegase Winery, Napa Valley"

"Fact, lore and fantasy, Richard has seen, heard or drunk them all. . . and we get to tag along with glass in hand. Just Enjoy!" -- Joe Borello, President, Tasters Guild International

"Profound knowledge, a lifetime passion for wine and a close personal relationship to many winemakers are reflected in this book. This is wine info-tainment at its best." -- Dr. Thomas Driesberg, Director, Weinguter Wegeler, Germany

"Dr. Vine is uniquely qualified to enrich the saga that is wine with keen observation and deep understanding of the players and events he personally encountered . . ." -- Agustin Huneeus, Proprietor, Quintessa Vineyards, Napa Valley, Veramonte Winery,

"Dick Vine had a brainwave: bottle up all the really juicy wine stories together and pour them with a sparkle." -- Hugh Johnson, Author, The World Atlas of Wine -

"This excellent work reflects a passion. The enlightened wine connoisseur will find in this book a new way of thinking about the world of wine." -- Christian POL-ROGER, Director, Champagne Pol-Roger, France

"Professor Vine's most entertaining recitals of the romance of wine reveal to us how important it has been in the daily lives of our ancestors. . ." -- Jan Shrem, Founder/Proprietor, Clos Pegase Winery, Napa Valley

About the Author:

Born and raised in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York, Richard Vine began his wine-making career in 1958 at the Pleasant Valley Wine Company (Great Western) in Hammondsport. While first a cellar worker and then a laboratory technician, he was promoted to winemaker and assumed responsibility for more than six million bottles of annual wine production. In 1977, Vine accepted a research position at Mississippi State University, where he earned his baccalaureate and doctorate degrees while also writing the first of four academic wine books.

Purdue University gave Dr. Vine the call in 1991 to fill their initial professor of enology position. In 1999, Purdue dedicated a wine library in his name at the Philip E. Nelson Hall of Food Science. During his university tenures, he was also the wine consultant for American Airlines for twenty-one years.

About this edition

• Publisher: Tarcherperigree
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0399537635
• ISBN 13: 9780399537639
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 212