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Adventures On The Wine Route: A Wine Buyer's Tour Of France

When Adventures on the Wine Route was first published, Victor Hazan said, "In Kermit Lynch's small, true, delightful book there is more understanding about what wine really is than in everything else I have read." A quarter century later, this remarkable journey of wine, travel, and taste remains an essential volume for wine lovers. In 2007, Eric Asimov, in The New York Times, called it "one of the finest American books on wine," and in 2012, The Wall Street Journal pro-claimed that it "may be the best book on the wine business."In celebration of its twenty-fifth anniversary, Adventures on the Wine Route has been thoroughly redesigned and updated with an epilogue and a list of the great wine connoisseur's twenty-five most memorable bottles. In this singular tour along the French wine route, Lynch ventures forth to find the very essence of the wine world. In doing so, he never shies away from the attitudes, opinions, and beliefs that have made him one of our most respected and outspoken authorities on wine. Yet his guiding philosophy is exquisitely simple. As he writes in the introduction, "Wine is, above all, about pleasure. Those who make it ponderous make it dull . . . If you keep an open mind and take each wine on its own terms, there is a world of magic to discover." Adventures on the Wine Route is the ultimate quest for this magic via France's most distinguished vineyards and wine cellars. Lynch draws vivid portraits of vintners―from inebriated négociants to a man who oversees a vineyard that has been in his family for five hundred years―and memorably evokes the countryside at every turn. "The French," Lynch writes, "with their aristocratic heritage, their experience and tradition, approach wine from another point of view . . . and one cannot appreciate French wine with any depth of understanding without knowing how the French themselves look at their wines, by going to the source, descending into their cold, humid cellars, tasting with them, and listening to the language they employ to describe their wines."Here, Kermit Lynch assures a whole new generation of readers―as well as his loyal fans―that discussions about wine need not focus so stringently on "the pH, the oak, the body, the finish," but rather on the "gaiety" of the way "the tart fruit perfume[s] the palate and the brain."

Hardcover: 288 pages

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux; 2 edition (November 12, 2013)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0374100977

ISBN-13: 978-0374100971

Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 1 x 9.2 inches

Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)

Best Sellers Rank: #217,775 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #228 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Beverages & Wine > Wine & Spirits > Wine #319 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Beverages & Wine > Homebrewing, Distilling & Wine Making #336 in Books > Travel > Europe > France > General

Kermit writes a heartfelt, often funny and entertaining, personal account of his travels within France as a wine importer in the 1980's. When looking for wines to import, he looks for artisanal wines that are made by winemakers that respect tradition and emphasize quality over quantity, while keeping prices reasonable for everyday drinking. Much of the book is his experiences with these winemakers, many humorous anecdotes, but also discusses serious decisions vintners are faced with as land changes hands, new generations take over, technology becomes available, and market trends change. Aside from the ascetic values of the wines, Kermit puts great focus on the personality of the winemakers he meets, which he believes greatly influence the resulting product.What this book is NOT is a wine guide or a tourist map. Kermit briefly touches upon the differences between wines grown in different regions that he visits, but it is hardly exhaustive or consistent. For example, he does a good job distinguishing between the different appellations of Northern Rhone, but does little to detail the Bordeaux sub-regions. But remember that this is a personal account, so don't expect encyclopedic coverage.The 25th Anniversary edition adds an extra chapter discussing the trends of the industry since the original 1988 publication, updates on some of the winemakers, and Kermit's personal opinion on natural wines (spoiler: "natural" does not mean good.)Recommended for anyone who loves wine and wants to know a little more about what it takes to get it to your local store.

Written by a wine professional, Kermit Lynch wrote an ode to the fine art of wine making for us all to enjoy. In the process, he wrote of a time and place in France that has changed dramatically 25 years later. His French contacts are the small family owned vineyards that produce high quality, small yield old growth wine using the old French traditional methods. In the update written for the 25th anniversary edition, he brings us up to date with some of the characters we loved from the original edition. He regrets the passing of his old friends and, with it, the old school methods and traditions of traditional French winemaking. He regrets the profusion of the mass produced wine that we get today using short cut methods to produce large volumes of wine devoid of that signature French “taste”.In “Adventures on the Wine Route”, Kermit Lynch wrote an ode to a way of life in French wine, of a time and place that was special and in so doing he wrote a love story for us all.

Solid trip around the wine-buying tour of france with kermit, he outlines his philosophy of wine. A very enjoyable book with lots of fun stories about french vintners, sort of lacking on the technical details on the wine regions with a stronger focus on their history but he does lay out the traditional grapes and styles of a region's wine, so it is usable as a technical primer, though that isn't really the books focus.

I loved it. As a wine enthusiast and having travelled to many of the wine areas that he covers in the book, I was transported and fascinated by his wonderful descriptions of the wine makers and the actual wines. I am just so sorry his shop isn't accessible to me because I would be a very frequent visitor! I agree with so much that he writes about, and he has a lyrical turn of phrase.

Book is smartly written from Lynch's point of view regarding what he considers the degradation of vinification in order to survive in the business. You'll learn a good amount about traditional wine making, that a 15 degree wine is not necessarily the best wine (the "big and bold" wines), and that a wine can be best enjoyed when paired with a good meal. I often wonderd why so many wines of disparate regions seem to taste almost the same. Well now I know, and now I more carefully read the label which should tell me who bottled the wine and where. A worthwhile journey through the French wine country.

The more you learn about wine, the more you realize you don't know. I'd say I am an advanced wine lover but have recently realized how little I know. I learned so much from this book, things that you wouldn't necessarily know you didn't know, things you wouldn't be able to find in a wine bible.I always knew I didn't like so2 in my wine and I always thought I liked unfiltered wine. I was able to get a deep understanding of why this is and gained a new appreciation for wine making techniques and natural wines.I am also an aspiring importer and am taking my first trip to France (for business) this spring and feel much more prepared than before. Still lots to learn, but its of course a fun process!Anyone could appreciate this book.

love his writing and shoot from the hip descriptions. wished I had a cave in provence and a vineyard above. Would recommend this to any Francophile who enjoys travel

My husband has been quoting Kermit Lynch daily since he opened this gift. He has been recommending it to all his friends.

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