May 30, 2022
In this wry and earnest work, James Beard Award–winning writer Feiring (Naked Wine) delivers a canny blend of essays to reflect on the “aromas and tastes” that led her to pursue a life of quaffing and writing about wines. In “Then There Was Perfume,” the smell of aged wine (“parchment, dust, spice box with cloves”) recalls the scent of her grandfather, whose passion for perfumes helped develop young Feiring’s “nose” for wine while growing up in an Orthodox Jewish household in 1960s Nassau County, Long Island. A college rejection letter led Feiring to find consolation in her first taste of Chablis, which prompted a whirlwind of loves lost and, finally, love found in a childhood friend serendipitously encountered decades later. In “Faking It,” Feiring hilariously recounts writing her first commissioned wine story, an assignment that sends her not to the much desired Burgundy, but instead to Long Island in 1990 to cover its nascent wine scene. Throughout, she intersperses her punchy prose with delightful wine recommendations—for a “savory, yummy, ‘oops it’s gone’ kind of refreshment,” she suggests indulging in a Marquette—and intriguing histories of various varietals (who knew the California Chablis was a disingenuous appellation?). The result is a full-bodied and bighearted work that’s sure to intoxicate wine aficionados and revelers alike. Agent: Angela Miller, Folio Literary.
June 1, 2022
This memoir feels almost like Alice in Wonderland for the alcohol-legal set. It offers glimpses of the ebullience, the fear, and the beauty that Feiring (Natural Wine for the People) discovers as she pursues her desires and is pursued by them. There are moments of great beauty and profundity here, as when Feiring writes, "Survival often hinges on the back of accidents, luck, and the random kindness of strangers." In documenting such moments, along with the wines that accompany them, Feiring becomes as much a companion as a guide, someone her readers are experiencing things with rather than (or while) learning from her about the complexity of wine. She answers questions and offers advice about everything from price to the subtle science of wine, with attention paid to grapes, vineyards, and vintners. VERDICT Feiring provides an entertaining and engaging story about grapes and growth.--Emily Bowles
Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
June 15, 2022
A wine writer's happy discoveries. In 2001, Feiring published a piece in the New York Times business section that launched her on an unexpected career as a wine writer. The article, exposing technology in the wine industry, led her to become an advocate of natural wines, grown organically, with none of more than 72 legally allowed additives. In her zesty memoir recounting her transformation into a wine expert, the author writes about growing up in an observant Jewish family on Long Island, with little experience drinking anything but kosher wines. Her adventurous course of self-education involved journeys around the world and has resulted in a plethora of detailed wine recommendations. "I spent time in vineyards," she recalls, "I learned about viticulture and chemistry. My world exploded with travel and discovery. It was wild, energetic, and idealistic." Feiring creates warm portraits of wine growers and producers, steeps readers in the terroir of different regions, and, with great delight, sings the praises of natural wines from Chile and Vermont, Czechoslovakia and California, Italy and the republic of Georgia. "No matter where I am," she writes, "when I taste a wine that moves me, I feel the imperative to follow the thread to its origin, and that's when I know I've got something special." Her descriptions swirl rapturously: A French Syrah evoked the sinew and muscle of "a sleek racehorse" combined with "classic blueberry"; the "modestly amber-colored wine" she drank in Georgia, made from mtsvane grapes, imparted the flavor of "preserved lemon with its salted rind, textural for sure, and thirst quenching." Besides wine, Feiring reflects on family--her stubborn mother, philandering father, and beloved brother and confidant--and various boyfriends, one of whom, unfortunately, did not drink at all. "Wine is the place where history, science, and civilization meet," she writes, "and drinking the right glass of wine does have the power to nourish love." An enjoyable quaff for wine lovers.
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June 15, 2022
This Alice, not Lewis Carroll's creation, firmly believes in the power of wine to appeal to human instinct and appetite and transform a human being. Feiring (Natural Wine for the People, 2019), a wine-world star known for some controversial opinions, advocates for "natural" wines, ones lacking preservatives such as sulfur compounds. In this autobiography, Feiring recounts her life as an aesthetic progression that led to her becoming a connoisseur of wines. She begins with her beloved grandfather, who taught her how to recognize the scents of perfumes: training that made her all the more sensitive to the nuances of wines. In a series of chapters focusing on significant events in her life, such as her parents' doomed marriage, her own ill-fated relationships, and the isolating stresses of COVID-19, Feiring recalls each event's connection with wine, from enjoying prosaic bottles to witnessing new vintners develop to beholding the majesty of the world's greatest vintages. Readers traveling with Feiring will discover a vast inventory of wines, many new and obscure and worth seeking out.
COPYRIGHT(2022) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.