I was asked to review this book and it sat in my in tray for a couple of weeks, before I decided to have a look. It's very moreish and gently amusing. £12.99 (University of Buckingham Press) and a nice little book for the wine lover in your life at Christmas. I'm not sure I'd buy it for a wine expert because it does a surreptitious job of educating at a certain level - and I think it's a sensible level - but might be beneath the average MW type. However, it is tremendous fun.
Graham Mitchell is a wine merchant who has been all over the world, buying wine and storing anecdotes along the way. The anecdotes are amusing - again, the wine expert might be a bit yawny about them. The accompanying letter described the book as a "light-hearted romp" but I think that's a little mean-spirited. It pulls you along and gives the inside story, which I think is what people want. There are some notes on traditional food and wine matches, which are tried and tested and then a grid of food/grape matches. Some are sound but some made my gag-reflex twitch. Egg mayonnaise with riesling, fish pate with sweet wine, leek and potato soup with syrah, nachos and riesling, olives with viognier and spinach and cheese dip with pinot noir.
However, it's a great book. Entertaining, full of amusing quotes and, for those of you with fading eyesight, the print is in 1.5 or double line spacing and so it's nice and easy to read.
or a shelf label mistake ? I will check again & confirm when next in that large store
