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| The Battle for Wine and Love: or How I Saved the World from Parkerization | 
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Avg. Customer Rating:  (based on 24 reviews)
Sales Rank: 31168
Category: Book
Author: Alice Feiring
Publisher: Harcourt
Studio: Harcourt
Manufacturer: Harcourt
Label: Harcourt
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8.1 x 5.6 x 0.9
ISBN: 0151012865
Dewey Decimal Number: 641.22
EAN: 9780151012862
ASIN: 0151012865
Publication Date: May 19, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
"Iwant my wines to tell a good story.I want them natural and most of all, like my dear friends,I want them to speak the truth even if we argue,? says Alice Feiring. Join her as she sets off on her one-woman crusade against the tyranny of homogenization, wine consultants, and, of course, the 100-point scoring system of a certain all-powerful wine writer. Traveling through the ancient vineyards of the Loire and Champagne, to Piedmont and Spain, she goes in search of authentic barolo, the last old-style rioja, and the tastiest new terroir-driven champagnes. She reveals just what goes into the average bottle?the reverse osmosis, the yeasts and enzymes, the sawdust and oak chips?and why she doesn?t find much to drink in California. And she introduces rebel winemakers who are embracing old-fashioned techniques and making wines with individuality and soul. No matter what your palate, travel the wine world with Feiring and you?ll have to ask yourself: What do i really want in my glass?
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| Customer Reviews: Read 19 more reviews...
 A fine blend of wine culture and travelogue August 11, 2008
Wine journalist Alice Feiring had a long affection for complicated wines - and was horrified when she discovered all kinds of wines were beginning to taste alike. Her search for originality in the wine world led her on a journey through ancient vineyards of France, Spain and more as she searched out old-fashioned wines and artisan winemaking over corporate production techniques. "The Battle for Wine and Love or How I Saved the World from Parkerization" is a fine blend of wine culture and travelogue, perfect for any library strong on wine appreciation.
Alice is the Real Deal (and so is Neal Rosenthal) July 30, 2008
Forget about the title and get over Bow-Tie Man, the Owl Man, etc. Alice Feiring (pronounced Fire-ing) has a right to air her personal stuff. After all this is her book. And as to complaints that the second part of the title is silly and designed to help sell books. So what? Somebody had to have the cojones to take on Robert Parker, whose IMHO 'silly' reviews have helped wipe out the demand for many truly authentic wines and have promoted the facile, manipulated wines of the new rich and enriched any number of his favored status importers and formulaic consultants--who are not wine tailors, they are knock-off artists.
Alice is the real deal and so is Neal Rosenthal, who Confessions of a Wine Merchant comes on the heels of Alice's book, echoing themes about the authenicity and sense of place in truly great wines and railing against the tragic (for real wine lovers) imposition of industry homogeneousness and wine manipulation over the real thing.
Both these books are deep--not frivolous, as some people would like to paint Alice Feiring's book--complex and filled with nuances that everyone who really cares about great wine should know and appreciate. Neither book is jammed with appreciation for overripe fruit, residual sugar, palate numbing alcohol levels and, Thank God, neither comes in a horrid new oak binding (barrels where supposed to be aging vessels, not gross flavoring agents that override grape varieties, terroir, etc.).
My prediction is that these two books are going to have an enormous impact on young (and not so young) sommeliers, wine directors and wine buyers (especially non-retail types, who don't use Parker scores to flog wines), because they both espouse the greatness and distinctiveness of terroir-driven, authentic, artisan wines that have a sense of place. Since these are not mass market Parkerista wines, I think this philosophy will not have an immediate effect on the Parker consumer, but it will have on restaurant wine lists run by younger sommeliers, who believe it or not have been fed up with tasting Parkerista wines for quite some time. They will seek terroir-driven wines to lend distinction to their lists and push these wines as those which help set their wine lists and restaurants apart.
Restaurant goers will discover these wines and begin to look for retail stores that carry them. It will not be long before the already choppy anti-Parkerista waters build into a very big wave, which, pardon me, copycat American wine journalists will soon see as a bandwagon to jump on, at least those who still have a palate left after tasting all the overripe, sweet, over-oaked, alcoholic junk that they have been barraged with over the past decade or so. And with greening and organic movements growing stronger in response to environmental changes, more and more conscientous wine drinkers will begin to question the manipulation of wines.
Alice Feiring: ". . . At stake is the soul of wine. This is giant corporation vs. independent winemaker. This is international and homogenous vs. local and varied. This manipulated and technical wine vs. natural and artisanal. . .wine is being reduced to the common denominator. . .I visit producers who make wines that inspire love and devotion. . . I unmask the modern way--the reverse osmosis, the tannin addition, the yeasts, the enzymes, the cold soaks, the sawdust, oak chips, the barriques, the micro- and macro-oxygenation, the rotor fermenters, and the cherry drops. There will be scientists and consultants, who help create cookie-cutter wines for the mass palate. I will deal with those who say terroir (the magic that brings soil, climate, vintage, and winemaker together in a bottle of wine) and natural winemaking are simply excuses for making bad wine."
Neil Rosenthal: ". . . proof that there is some seriously fine terroir to be found in California and elsewhere, terroir that merits being left to express itself rather than being dominated and destroyed by human manipulation in the form of superextraction or immersion in new oak barrels or any of dozens of other laboratory tricks that "correct" what nature gives us."
Alice Feiring and Neal Rosenthal are heroine and hero!!! Buy both these books and take a trip through the world of real wine, you will never turn back.
Gerry Dawes
Blog: Gerry Dawes's Spain: An Insider's Guide to Spanish Food, Wine, Culture and Travel.
THIS BOOK IS A CRITICAL PART OF ANY DISCUSSION ABOUT WINE July 28, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
ANYONE INTERESTED IN WINE SHOULD READ THIS BOOK.
Who knew that a book about wine could be such a fascinating, engaging, page turning book? I really enjoyed reading this book from the first page. Not only was the book interesting, it also brings to light some critical issues regarding the current trends in wine making, wine rating systems, and distribution.
Don't think of not reading this controversial and exciting book (about wine!?!). Alice's frank honesty is refreshing and bold. Here is a person who says what she thinks and never holds any punches. Clearly this isn't industry generated public relations garbage.
Alice's view about wine is that it should be made in a manner that truly honors place and the grapes used to make the wine. This is achieved by using traditional, natural, honest winemaking techniques. Sadly, this seems to be rarely done anymore. Most of todays "natural" and Organic" wines are still the product of heavy manipulation. People may protest that it isn't so, but the truth is in the bottle.
THIS BOOK IS A CRITICAL PART OF ANY DISCUSSION ABOUT WINE.
SAVE AUTHENTIC WINES!!
 Valid criticism, but repetitive July 24, 2008
This is a worthwhile book which states the case for traditional winemaking in a forceful and at times entertaining manner. Unfortunately, it is a bit repetitive and in adopting an absolutist position, Feiring is guilty of the same sins she pins on Parker.
 The Battle for Wine and Love July 18, 2008
Alice Feiring has crafted an imaginative work on the intricacies of the wine trade.
She writes with wit and a knowing eye to those niceties that make drinking wine an adventure to delight the nose and palate.
There is humor and sass in her travels to unravel the mysteries of the grape, and many a tale of unexpected discovery.
For the ardent wine lover, an enticing read......
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