For the Love of Wine

My Odyssey through the World's Most Ancient Wine Culture

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Pub Date Mar 01 2016 | Archive Date Apr 29 2016

Description

In 2011 when Alice Feiring first arrived in Georgia, she felt as if she'd emerged from the magic wardrobe into a world filled with mythical characters making exotic and delicious wine with the low-tech methods of centuries past. She was smitten, and she wasn't alone. This country on the Black Sea has an unusual effect on people; the most passionate rip off their clothes and drink wines out of horns while the cold-hearted well up with tears and make emotional toasts. Visiting winemakers fall under Georgia's spell and bring home qvevris (clay fermentation vessels) while rethinking their own techniques.


But, as in any good fairy tale, Feiring sensed that danger rode shotgun with the magic. With acclaim and growing international interest come threats in the guise of new wine consultants aimed at making wines more commercial. So Feiring fought back in the only way she knew how: by celebrating Georgia and the men and women who make the wines she loves most, those made naturally with organic viticulture, minimal intervention, and no additives.


From Tbilisi to Batumi, Feiring meets winemakers, bishops, farmers, artists, and silk spinners. She feasts, toasts, and collects recipes. She encounters the thriving qvevri craftspeople of the countryside, wild grape hunters, and even Stalin's last winemaker while plumbing the depths of this tiny country's love for its wines.


For the Love of Wine is Feiring's emotional tale of a remarkable country and people who have survived religious wars and Soviet occupation yet managed always to keep hold of their precious wine traditions. Embedded in the narrative is the hope that Georgia has the temerity to confront its latest threat—modernization.


In 2011 when Alice Feiring first arrived in Georgia, she felt as if she'd emerged from the magic wardrobe into a world filled with mythical characters making exotic and delicious wine with the...


A Note From the Publisher

Alice Feiring is an internationally known author, journalist, and essayist who lives in New York City. She has been the wine correspondent for Wall Street Journal Magazine and Time and now freelances for the New York Times, Wine and Spirits, and Omnivore. Winner of both the James Beard and the Louis Roederer wine writing awards, Feiring is the author of Naked Wine: Letting Grapes Do What Comes Naturally and The Battle for Wine and Love; or, How I Saved the World from Parkerization.

Alice Feiring is an internationally known author, journalist, and essayist who lives in New York City. She has been the wine correspondent for Wall Street Journal Magazine and Time and now freelances...


Advance Praise

“By the time you’ve picked up this book, Georgian wine will be internationally known—thanks in no small part to Alice Feiring, who has put her passion and pen behind it. What do God, Stalin, and truth have to do with great wine? Follow her on her journeys into a rich and fascinating culture and find out.” —Christine Muhlke, executive editor of Bon Appétit

“With charm, flair, and deep human compassion Alice Feiring immerses us in the ancient contradictory culture of Georgia. Reading her vivid prose one can almost sniff the orange blossom notes in the wines, savor the eggplant rolls filled with garlicky walnuts, and share epic feasts with a cast of unforgettable characters. How lucky we are to have her as our guide to this fascinating, singular country.”—Anya Von Bremzen, author of The Art of Soviet Cooking

“By the time you’ve picked up this book, Georgian wine will be internationally known—thanks in no small part to Alice Feiring, who has put her passion and pen behind it. What do God, Stalin, and...


Available Editions

EDITION Hardcover
ISBN 9781612347646
PRICE $24.95 (USD)

Average rating from 12 members


Featured Reviews

When most of us think of wine country, we conjure up images of France and Italy. But Georgia? I can still remember hearing of “Soviet Georgia” on the news when I was a kid and the name conjured up cement grey buildings and unsmiling locals. As Feiring discovers, nothing could be further from the truth. Situated on the Black Sea, the residents of Georgia have been making their own wine as far back as anyone can remember. The author travels to Georgia to learn more about the people and their wine making skills. She meets with farmers, artists and priests and learns that many of the wines are made from wild grapes that have not been subjected to chemicals or fertilizer. She attends feasts, gets recipes and drinks plenty of wine, some better than others. She covets the clay fermentation jars that winemakers bury in the ground to process their wines and she falls in love with a country and a way of life along the way. Part travelogue, part history lesson and 100% fascinating

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Feiring, a food connoisseur, went to Georgia in search of their ancient wine culture, perhaps the oldest in the world (borne out by prehistoric clay pots, in whose modern descendents people still age wine buried in their backyards). She found that Soviet standardization, while it drove varietals and terroir-based wine making underground for personal consumption, never succeeded in obliterating the vines or the people's taste for wine patiently steeped in grape skins, imparting a full spectrum of flavor and eccentric interest. Now, however, as European money offers opportunities to buy modern equipment and produce homogenized product, the industry stands at a crossroads unresolved by the end of the book.

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My goodness, I have been reading a lot of wine related books lately, but this one really stands out. Feiring is a extremely passionate connoisseur of wine and it's history. Her book is about the country of Georgia, and it's thousands of years of wine culture. She vividly describes her experiences in the country, tracking it's vinicultural history, it's methods of making wine, and it's struggles through the years in preserving it's culture.
Feiring is an outspoken advocate of the natural, organic method of making wine. She makes a strong case against the current trends of the mass production, chemically enhanced, pesticide laden, monotonous wine. While the world is experiencing the taking over of wineries and vineyards by large corporations (and the Chinese), Georgia is embracing it's roots in it's age-old techniques.
Feiring explains in detail how Georgian wine is made in qvevri's (clay vessels sunk into the ground), the methods of making the wine, and the hundreds of varieties of grape vines in Georgia (many of which have been saved and maintained only by local farmers). She describes how the culture was almost wiped out by the Soviets during their period of occupation.
Her descriptive language is of such high quality that you could almost smell and taste the wines and food. She made you feel as though you were with her, sitting down to expansive meals with Georgian farmers, traveling through the countryside in search of rare grape vines or ancient qvevri's. Her portrayals of people enabled me to clearly see them in my own mind. While it seems like small scale, sustainable methods she advocates are facing insurmountable odds against the large corporations, it is refreshing to know that there are people like her who are trying. If you are interested in wine, history that wasn't taught in our schools, or just outstanding writing, this is a great book for you!

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Thank you to University of Nebraska Press/Potomac and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review. You definitely need to be a wine lover to read this book. Interesting, although the book gets a little repetitive as you get further into it. The author clearly demonstrates a passion for wine.

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A passionate look at the world of Georgian wine and a clarion call for the cause of natural wine.

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