This book is a must read for anyone who enjoys wine. It is a concise and precise explanation of how and why different drinks from different places end up at our tables. The most valuable insight one takes away from this informative book is that we can and should trust our own palates and preferences, and not concern ourselves with the mythology of wine, which as it turns out, is often self aggrandizing if not outright fraudulent. Distinguishing among categories of wine we learn the mass produced "factory" wines from Australia and elsewhere pretty much guarantee that one bottle will look, smell and taste like the next 5,000 bottles of that varietal, just as we learn that the "farmer" produced wines of Burgundy, Bordeaux, Oregon and parts of California can vary significantly not only from year to year but from bottle to bottle. Finally we learn of the undue influence some critics have on what is grown and we learn that clever vintners are designing their wines to appeal to these critics regardless of how they really think wine should be made. With backstories about the politics of wine in France and the United States and with charts and tables showing us the massive control
a very limited number of companies, mostly privately held, control just about everything we get on average store shelves the book teaches one important lesson. Drink what you like, search out obscure wineries, explore on your own, and trust your own judgment.
Get more detail about Wine Politics: How Governments, Environmentalists, Mobsters, and Critics Influence the Wines We Drink.
Surpise, surprise... where there's no label regulation there's no content regulation. Where's there no content rules there's freedom to exploit and volume produce. Perhaps France Appellations had it right yet even their wine culture has deteriorated.
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