This New Book Will Take You Around the World in Eighty Wines

/ Lifestyle / #LitLife OCT 24, 2017 @ 06:30 AM 979 This New Book Will Take You Around The World In Eighty Wines Tom Mullen, CONTRIBUTOR FULL BIO Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. TWEET THIS What differentiates this book is the constant inclusion of factual anecdotes from unexpected locations. Credit: Rowman & Littlefield Mike Veseth's latest wine book will be released in November What we crave between covers of a book is transportation. We want to visit— vicariously—lifestyles, emotions, times, cultures, stories and situations that differ from those we are familiar with. Through reading, we can taste meals never eaten or savor wines not yet swallowed. A satisfying book transports readers; a memorable book also transforms them. When published in 1873, the book Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne took readers on a trip around the globe, based on a wager the protagonist made regarding the duration of the journey. Adventures included traveling by elephant, saving a young Asian woman from murder and riding a train across North American plains while under attack. A new book will be released this November titled Around the World in Eighty Wines: Exploring Wine One Country at a Time. This non-fiction work takes readers on a rapid, engaging skip and skim around the globe—highlighting the diversity of wines now produced across the planet. Written by Mike Veseth and published by Rowman & Littlefield, this is an entertaining smatter of the eclectic, a trove of stories and facts not found in other books about wine. Veseth is author of several books about wine, and also publishes the Wine Economist blog. What differentiates this book is the constant inclusion of factual anecdotes from unexpected locations. In assembling the book he aims to collect 80 wines from around the world that “capture the essence of what wine is all about and why it is so important…” In homage to Verne’s book, the story begins at the same location from where the fictional character Phileas Fogg departed from: the Reform Club of London. Credit: Mike Veseth Author Mike Veseth We learn of London's centuries old reputation as a wine trading epicenter, established after 1152 when King Henry II of England married Eleanor of Aquitaine. Together this couple pushed Bordeaux wine producers to increase their trade with England. From London the book moves to the European continent. The author’s first choice of wine for his basket is a Pol Roger from Champagne in France. He then selects bottles from Bordeaux, Burgundy and Beaujolais. In Italy he selects Riunite Lambrusco because it represents the historical power of cooperatives and was inexpensive enough to have lured generations of newcomers to begin sampling wines. He also selects an Antinori Chianti Classico because this 26- generation estate represents both a powerful family history of winemaking as well as visionary ambition regarding international marketing. Facts are diverse and stories are entertaining as the book skips across Europe. We learn of a connection between Beaujolais and Yellow Tail wine, as well as the roots of Prosecco—made from the Glera grape. Visits to Syria, Lebanon and Georgia provide context for ancient winemaking traditions, as well as geopolitical intrigue. Syrian wine (apparently once admired by Pliny the Elder) is still made in a nation where hostilities flare. The owners and French consultant for one winery—Domaine de Bargylus—are sometimes unable to visit because of war. They then coordinate management and daily operations via cell phones and the Internet. Veseth considers Georgia, having produced wine for eight millennia, as “…probably the most wine-centric country on the planet.” He selects one bottle from 5,000 produced annually from the indigenous Chinuri grape in the small cellar of winemaker Iago Bitarishivili. The choice is “to honor Georgia’s stubborn success” in the face of previous Soviet dominance, as well as the economic challenge of having prices tugged at by international markets. Berbers and Phoenicians transported grapevines along the southern border of the Mediterranean Sea to countries now known as Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria. The participation of these North African nations in the wine trade was once hefty. At the turn of the 20th century, wine accounted for half of Algeria’s exports and the country was the fourth largest wine exporter in the world. Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia then produced two thirds of wine traded throughout the world. The excursion next moves to Spain, where Veseth tells of the historical relationship between Spain’s Rioja and French Bordeaux wines. He provides an analogy between soccer culture and wine production—suggesting that successful wines have adapted international influence in a ways that remains distinctly Spanish. The text also mentions the grape Airén—which is the most planted white wine grape in the world, although few international wine drinkers even know the name. After Portugal, the narrative moves southward through Africa to Kenya (where paleoanthropologist Richard Leakey and his daughter have produced both Pinot Noir and Chardonnay wines). In South Africa we learn that the first grapes pressed there were Muscadel in the year 1659. Veseth and his wife Sue sample and praise Kanonkop Pinotage (having also visited that cellar to sample stellar wine, their choice resonated). He selects a bottle from Rupert & Rothschild as emblematic of a luxury local brand. Credit: Tom Mullen The coastline at Hemanus, South Africa In Asia, Veseth mentions New Latitudes Wine—a movement related to vineyards located close to the equator. Surprisingly, we learn that the island of Bali has a two- decade-old winery that produces a million bottles a year using Belgia and Alphonse- Lavallée grapes (which resist tropical diseases). One bonus of a tropical climate? There are three harvests per year. In Thailand, the author samples a dry white Monsoon Bay wine that includes Colombard and Malaga Blanc grapes. King Louis XIV of France wisely gifted the latter grapes to King Naria of Siam in the late 17th century. One reason? Their thick grape skins help protect this fruit from the wrath of monsoons. India has grown grapes since Persian conquerors delivered vines there 2,500 years ago. Today the country produces such reputable wines as Sula Dindori Reserve Shiraz, although wine culture suffers from high taxation and the forbiddance of advertising. Further north and east in China, winemakers face unique problems. Wild temperature fluctuations in the Ningxia wine region, at 3,000 feet (900 meter) elevation result in grapevines having to be buried in the fall, then disinterred in the spring to avoid damage from the cold. Although most of the 80,000 acres (32,000 hectares) of vines that make up Ningxia (about double the vine acreage of Napa Valley) are relatively new, winemaking in the country is not: Chinese Riesling won prizes at the Panama-Pacific International Exhibition of 1915. In the southern hemisphere Veseth shares a fascinating story of rejection and redemption regarding the now world-renowned Penfolds Grange wine in Australia. After taking a trip to Bordeaux, the winemaker at Grange decided to make a similarly styled wine in the 1950’s, but was instructed by adamant managers to scrap his project. He continued covertly, creating the wine in secret. When his efforts were later re-evaluated, he was—fortunately—encouraged to continue. In the Land of the Long White Cloud, we learn how Italian Romeo Bragago was invited to New Zealand in 1895 (borrowed from his assignment in Australia) by the then prime minister to assess wine industry prospects. He eventually became chief viticulturist and published an authoritative manual on the subject. But when anti- alcohol campaigners shut down his department, Bragago moved to Canada. This loss of this powerful advocate of wine production undoubtedly slowed viticultural development on New Zealand's islands. In respect for Bragago’s efforts over a century ago, Veseth selects a Pinot Noir from Quartz Reef in Central Otago. Romero had once visited this area and, prophetically, declared it as ideal for wine, especially Pinot Noir. The journey continues to South America, where Chile exports five times as much wine as that made in New Zealand. Veseth notes that these countries have geographical similarities: “thin strips of land arrayed south to north, spanning the conventional wine latitudes.” Although the discussion of Chile does not dwell on the deliciously peppery Carménère grape, the section about adjacent Argentina highlights their signature Malbec. Due to its quality, Veseth selects a Catena Zapata wine as one of his targeted 80; he also chooses Colomé Auténico for pushing boundaries: it is grown at an elevation of 7,700 feet (2,300 meters). The book’s fourth section is titled Sour Grapes? We land in California in the U.S. and learn that Napa Valley’s tourist train began operating as far back as in the 1860’s. After Disneyland and Yosemite National Park, Napa draws most visitors to the state (over 3 million annually). Although appreciative of the wine and history, Veseth laments that some visitors may erroneously regard Napa as being quintessentially representative of California. His antidote? He suggests a visit to the Ramona Valley wine region on the southern end of California, where affordable and excellent food is available in a casual wine scene that is beginning to bloom. From California the book takes us to the Pinot Noir Festival of Oregon and then the massive Riesling Rendezvous—which takes place every three years in Seattle, Washington. The text then dashes across the United Sates to multiple venues, listing numbers of wineries per state and relating historical surprises. Although many wine aficionados know that the first grapes in what is now the U.S.

Load more