Natalie MacLean

A Wine-Soaked Journey from Grape to Glass

Red, White, and Drunk All Over

Natalie MacLean spent three years sipping her way through sun-drenched vineyards and cobwebbed cellars to bring us this witty, knowledgeable book about the world of wine. In the ancient vineyards of Burgundy she uncovers the secrets of Pinot Noir, then moves on to the labyrinthine cellars of Champagne to examine the mystique of luxury bubbly. She compares notes with novelist Jay McInerney at a bacchanalian dinner, goes undercover as a sommelier in a five-star restaurant, and explores the influence of powerful critics Jancis Robinson and Robert Parker. You may have a head for wine, but Red, White and Drunk All Over will show you its heart.

The author of Red, White, and Drunk All Over searches for wines with great taste and excellent value while diving off the coast of South Africa, horseback riding in the Andes and flying a helicopter in Niagara.

A Tipsy Quest for the World's Best Bargain Wines

Unquenchable

Natalie MacLean follows in the great food- and wine-writing tradition of MFK Fisher, Peter Mayle, and Anthony Bourdain to take you behind the scenes of the international wine world. She tastes sensuous pinot noir in the ancient vineyards of Burgundy and checks out a San Francisco wine store housed in a former automobile repair shop; she delves into the mystique of champagne and goes undercover as a sommelier in an expensive restaurant; she investigates the powerful influence of American super-critic Robert Parker, Jr., and compares collecting notes over dinner with novelist and wine enthusiast Jay McInerney. Whether slashing the tops off champagne bottles with a sword or choosing the best wines to go with Thanksgiving turkey and pumpkin pie, Natalie MacLean proves as engaging as she is knowledgeable on this fascinating tour from the grape to the glass.

A Wine Soaked Journey from Grape to Glass

We wine writers tend to be obsessive souls. How else can a person stay fascinated throughout a career with just one drink? Compare us to food writers: Over their lives, they'll encounter thousands of ingredients and ways of combining and cooking them. Wine, by contrast, is just fermented grapes. But it engages our primary senses-smell, taste, feel-in a way that is both hedonistic and cerebral. That's why I've spent the past several years traipsing around the world, visiting wineries, tasting their offerings, and searching for the world's best cheap wines. The narrative is as familiar as Arthur's quest for the grail and as naive as Dr. Seuss's plaintive search for the affirmative in Are You My Mother? With her signature conversational style, Natalie MacLean takes you on a whirlwind journey through the world of wine, searching for great taste at a low cost. By turns confessional-with guilty admissions from a penny-pincher who loves simple pleasures-and spirited, Unquenchable is informed by MacLean's decade-long career as an award-winning wine writer. In this engaging and enlightening book, MacLean recounts her adventures with the most passionate personalities in some of the most gorgeous, off-beat places in the world-from the crazed vintner who explains his philosophy while speeding down the Autobahn to the Sicilian winemakers you don't want to disappoint with your tasting notes. Yet there's plenty to take away from her inspired recommendations for food pairing to lists of favorite value wines and vintners, plus plenty of pointers that will enhance your own drinking pleasure.

Natalie MacLean

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