As wine editor of Gourmet magazine for more than 30 years, Gerald Asher s unsurpassed knowledge of wine, wineries, and vineyards-and his refreshing ability to write about them with-out technical jargon-has earned him a legion of loyal readers. This elegant and enchanting volume collects his writing about wine and all of its pleasures, from vine to table. With an emphasis on the wines of France and California, and also including Spain, Italy, Germany, and Australia, Asher s witty and personal essays tell the stories of the world s outstanding vintages and the people and places that produce them. A joy to read, The Pleasures of Wine informs and inspires, offering both an introduction to wine for novices and fresh insights for the connoisseur.
Customer Review: The Pleasures of Wine
You had better bone up on your wine language before attempting to keep up with author Gerald Asher. This book takes you on a journey through wine country. Along the way you meet several friends within the wine industry. Asher does a great job of spinning an interesting story while giving you small doses of wine education at the same time.
Customer Review: If I could save time in a bottle...
To tell the truth, I always feel guilty adding a review to the Amazon archives when others have already written intelligent and accurate assessments. Why bother when the heavy lifting has already been done?
Such is the case with the other two reviews posted for Gerald Asher's The Pleasures of Wine at the time I am writing this. So I offer a clink of the glass to the two reviewers who beat me to the punch. I agree with you and I appreciate the opportunity to expand on your excellent work.
I first encountered Gerald Asher's wine writings in the pages of my parent's Gourmet Magazine subscription. I'm guessing this was in either the late 60's or early 70's, but I could be wrong. Well before I knew anything about wine, I was attracted to these columns over and above anything else in the magazine because they were so well written and so informative. One of the previous reviewers likened The Pleasures of Wine to a conversation over a table with a friend. I'd echo that except to add that it turns out your friend is the best professor you ever had and he has a serious interest in becoming your mentor.
That's the sensibility I take away from the collected essays that appear in The Pleasures of Wine. Like the winemakers he admires who try not to let their own egos interfere with the process of growing and making good wine, Asher shares his vast, decades-spanning experiences and wide-ranging knowledge in a modest, unpretentious, and engaging way. The characteristics of terroir are "second nature" to him and he includes brief descriptions of soil composition, prevailing climatic conditions and exposure to the sun whenever discussing a specific wine of quality. Thoughtful research into the history of a region, viticultural area or vineyard is also a feature of most chapters.
These compact essays paint a picture of a truly civilized man who appreciates the role wine plays as an agricultural product, a business, and an art form. Food is never far away when he begins talking about wine, and he does not appear to be in favor of numerical scores as a means of determining quality. My three favorite chapters occur back-to-back-to-back in the middle of the book, and discuss (1) the famous 1976 France vs. California winetasting that first put California on the map as capable of producing world-class wine, (2) cork taint, and (3) organic farming, respectively. When Asher described organic farming and biodynamics, I quickly saw how his skill made my recent Amazon review of Monty Waldin's Biodynamic Wines look like the amateur hack job it was. You will undoubtedly learn something interesting and/or useful in every essay, even if it's a detail like the first time French oak was used in California was at Hanzell Vineyards in the 1950's.
One thing I would have liked to see in this book was the actual month/year when these articles first appeared in the magazine. I think we would have benefited from observing the aging process, in much the same way you might open a fine bottle from a case every year or two to see how it's evolving. Without this temporal perspective, you tend to lose your bearings, which is a shame because I suspect in many cases Asher's observations and insights were pioneering at the time they were written. It wouldn't have killed them to throw a few maps in either, since Asher is so careful to make distinctions that relate to geographical factors and terroir. I seem to recall that the old articles from Gourmet had maps and they should have either pulled these in or found substitutes.
The Pleasures of Wine isn't a book that a casual wine drinker is likely to embrace. To continue with my analogy from above, it's more like a seminar for upperclassmen than it is a freshman survey course, despite the broad swath of subjects covered in the 30+ essays. Think of it as a course where taking the right prerequisites only enriches your appreciation of what the professor has to share with you. I wonder if he needs a good TA...
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