Jonathan Nossiter was the director of the wine industry documentary Mondovino; a look at the wine industry, "Parker-ization," globalism and the winemakers focusing on terroir wines (those that reflect the local environment the grapes are grown in). In Mondovino, there were heroes and villains, primarily Robert Parker, whose eponymous Wine Guide has helped shift taste and production to larger bodied, more alcoholic wines as winemakers vied to increase their rankings.
In Liquid Memory, Nossiter continues on his quest to find wines and makers that focus on terroir and to call out those he feels are responsible for the industrialization and homogenization of wine production. He also weaves his own life throughout the book, from his earliest memories associated with wine to a meal he had at L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon in Paris. The problem comes that Nossiter spends more time discussing himself or railing against his critics than pressing his case in favor of well-produced, small-batch wines reflecting their regional heritage. His repeated personal attacks do him no favors, nor are the likely interesting to most readers. His repeated name-dropping and non sequitur descriptions of his own favorite wines belie his self-described status as anti-elitist (who else is going to compare wines to classical Chinese poetry but an intellectual?).
Had Nossiter stuck with the original premise of the book "Why Wine Matters" without turning into a vehicle for self-aggrandizement and continuing personal vendettas, Liquid Memory could have been highly readable. Even if he had stuck with his personal thoughts and observations of the wine industry and the philosophy of terroir, it still could have been a good book. But as is, it is simply a poor volume that should have been subtitled "Why Whine Matters."
Reviewed by RossGet more detail about Liquid Memory: Why Wine Matters.
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