Wine Outlook

Welcome to the 4th installment of the Wine Book Club, created by the prolific and profound Dr. Debs, as an extension of Wine Blogging Wednesday, itself an invention of Lenn Thompson— a pioneer in wine blogging.

The first time I read Tasting Pleasure: Confessions of a Wine Lover, and the reason I chose it for WBC 4: I could not put it down. I lapped up the words of my favorite wine writer like drinking an icy beer on a hot day. It didn’t hurt that I read the book in the middle of last summer, by a lake, with a cooler of beers nearby. (Yes, there was wine, too.)

The fact that my biggest concerns during the camping trip were what to cook for dinner and how to get a real shower made Jancis Robinson’s adventures that much easier to get caught up in. I found her a kindred spirit in how she began her career into wine without much background. When she wrote of her first job that “The pay was no great shakes but, hey, who’s counting when a lifetime in wine trade beckons (as thousands of wine trade employees have reasoned before and since),” I had to write I feel that in the margin. The plonk she drank, I could also relate to. On the other hand, I loved reading about wines that she was lucky enough to taste, so that I could live vicariously through her, sniffing Thomas Jefferson’s famous bottle, or the parades of Bordeaux from the same vintage with the Penning-Roswells and Broadbents. Or the grand tastings, some blind, put on by the likes of Hardy Rodenstock or Madame Lalou. And of course, I felt especially chummy when she couldn’t read her own tasting notes or left them on a bus due to too much consumption, a problem I’ve had once or twice.

However, this re-read found me with many more concerns than the last time: one blog coming abruptly to an end, changes at work and then a promotion, realization that staff reviews were suddenly my responsibility and due unexpectedly, another seminar to plan, and the happy break of plotting my trip to Portland and last night, the chore of packing. Instead of wine talk, I find myself thinking ahead to Agatha Christie and one of her mysteries so apt for a train ride. Or just eager to get away from wine, wine, wine. (That most certainly does not mean I will not be visiting Willamette Valley.)

Somehow, despite all that, Jancis still pulled me in, again. I started rereading in spare moments and soon found myself caught up in her unbelievable world. Now, I know she stated that not all wines she drinks are worth writing about. But just as she laments she will never be able to afford most of those bottles, what with the sudden demand all over the world raising prices out of normal folks’ reach, I’m just drooling over what friends and strangers have shared with her. Ah, to taste just a few of those bottles.

Even though it’s easy to get a little dizzy from the lists of places she visited; wine icons she met and often became good friends with; Bordeaux, Burgundy, Rhône, Australian, and so on beauties she tasted, it doesn’t come across as boasting. That doesn’t mean I didn’t get jealous…. and that I didn’t skip over some of the paragraphs a little this go round. But the thing with Jancis is that while she will tell you about the impossibly wonderful opportunities that came into her life, she doesn’t cover up the embarrassing moments or stories that aren’t so flattering. Whether it’s a televised blind tasting gone wrong or a bit of controversy over her predilection for spitting, there are plenty of mishaps to counter the miracles.

As you would expect, she does allude to the ‘woman issue’ occasionally. Sometimes it worked to her advantage, such as getting her a seat next to the host at dinner parties and more chance at getting the scoop or being the focus of certain published articles. Other times, though, she feels it harder to cross the gender line, as when she has to interview the port shippers’ chairman not at the table with him but seated behind him. Overall, it seems that the times she was most aware of how being a woman affected her job were during her three pregnancies and how they had to fit into her busy schedule.

Don’t think this is just a memoir, however. I realize that not every one is as enamored with this British troublemaker (self-proclaimed) as I am, but wine lovers can appreciate these confessions for more than personal anecdotes. Along the way to getting the inside scoop on the Masters of Wine test, the creation of The Oxford Companion to Wine, and thoughts on Robert Parker and his nose, there are sprinkles of helpful information about oak, decanting, grape varieties, and much about France.

Through the entire book, Jancis shows how much she really enjoys wine. She gives the impression that in her career, she didn’t seek out to impress anyone and never tried to mince her words. Wines move her, not the scores or the price. Towards the end, when she is discussing the difference between her and Parker, she sums it up best: “For me wine is so much more than a liquid in a glass; the liquid is merely our link to what is so often a fascinating story, a spot on the globe, a point in time, a fashion in winemaking, an argument between neighboring families, rivalry between old schoolmates, perhaps proud new owners who want to make their mark at any cost.” Exactly how I feel, and I couldn’t have said it better. Though she does inspire me to try.

Wine Book Club 4, Tasting Pleasure:Confessions of a Wine Lover, Jancis Robinson