Wine Book Reviews
Wine Politics - Tyler Colman
When I pick books to review, I pick them either because they have just hit the bookshelf or I'm really interested in reading it. The last book I reviewed was the Gary Vaynerchuck's book. I chose that book because it had just arrived in stores and was the top food and beverage book on Amazon at the time. I wouldn't have picked that book up for any other reason. Wine politics happen to fit both categories, it had just hit the book shelves and was something I really thought would be interesting.
This is definitely a book for wine geeks. Not everyone finds Appellation Origine Controle as cool as I do. The book covers the politics within the French and American wine industries, breaks down why wines taste the way they do, and cost what they cost. Appellation Origine Controle [ah-pehl-lah-SYAWN daw-ree-JEEN kawn-traw-LAY] or AOC for short is the French system for guaranteeing the origin of wine. AOC also controls grape yields, what grape varieties can be planted, and pruning techniques. The book also looks at the laws that effect American producers and its equivalent to the AOC, the AVA (American Viticulture Area), whose laws are less strict and cover larger areas than their French counterparts. It's one of those books that make you stop every few pages and question just how crazy some of the laws governing wine are. In the state of Georgia when a winery selects a distributor, they can't end the relationship, even for poor performance, JUST CRAZY. Tyler does a good job of breaking down many of the different laws that controls the production and distribution, making them easy for a laymen like myself to understand. The book also focus on the impact religious groups had on prohibition in the early part of the 20th century and still have on today's wine laws.
Tyler dedicates a chapter to the globalization of wine, and the effects it has on the taste of wines were drinking. The chapter talks about critics like Robert Parker and how their palates have influenced wineries to produce wines that are softer and more fruit forward. The books only downside in my mind was the chapter on the effect environmentalists play on the industry; it seemed a little dry and boring - no way to end a book.
Wine Politics is the type of book you can pick up and read 6 months later and still be intrigued. I give it 93 points!