Reading Between the WinesAcclaimed importer and wine guru Terry Theise, long known for his top-notch portfolio and his illustrious writing, now offers this opinionated, idiosyncratic, and beautifully written testament to wine. What constitutes beauty in wine, and how do we appreciate it? What role does wine play in a soulful, sensual life? Can wines of place survive in a world of globalized styles and 100-point scoring systems? In his highly approachable style, Theise describes how wine can be a portal to aesthetic, emotional, even mystical experience--and he frankly asserts that these experiences are most likely to be inspired by wines from artisan producers. Along the way, Theise tells us a little about how he got where he is today, explores the meaning of wine in the lives of vintners he has known, and praises particular grape varieties. Reading between the Wines is a passionate tribute to wine--and to what it can say to us once we learn to listen. |
Contents
Introduction | 1 |
Befriending Your Palate | 15 |
What Matters and What Doesnt in Wine | 29 |
Remystifying Wine | 57 |
The Three Humors | 67 |
Pressing Hot Buttons | 95 |
Of Places and Grapes | 117 |
Wine from Outside | 135 |
Wines That Mattered Or The Dog Ate My Point Scores | 153 |
Acknowledgments | 185 |
Common terms and phrases
asked Austria Barolo beauty believe birds Blanc blind tasting bottle Burgundy Cabernet called cellar Chablis Champagne Chardonnay charm Chenin Chenin Blanc complex connected cultured yeast delicious Dönnhoff drinking wine Erich everything experience feel fermentation flavor fruit German wine glass grand cru grape grow growers Grüner Veltliner GrüVe happened hear insist Joshua Bell kinds of wines land lives look matter Merkelbachs Mosel Muscat mystical nature Nebbiolo never old wines Old World palate Pinot Noir play pleasure question Riesling ripe Rolf and Alfred Scheu Scheurebe score seems Selbach sense Sigrid smells sometimes soul Spätlese spirit of place story sure sweet Syrah talk tasters tasting notes tell terroir there’s things thought variety vines vineyard vintage vintner Wachau wine world wine's winegrowers winemaking wonder World wines write yeasts