A Hedonist in the Cellar
A Hedonist in the Cellar: Adventures in Wine
Author: Jay McInerney
Amazon info
If I hadn't just finished "The Emperor of Scent", I would think that McInerney is truly wonderful at describing tastes and smells. But I had just read Luca Turin's descriptions and he is really in a league by himself. That having been said, "A Hedonist in the Cellar" is a surprising book - in fact, I almost decided not to read it, as it seemed incredibly pretentious - stories about fancy wines and fancier restaurants written by a fancy writer. But I ploughed ahead and was rewarded. While I will never eat in the restaurants that the author visits on a daily basis (and certainly wouldn't want to), I greatly enjoyed his descriptions of the wines, wineries, and wine makers. I haven't read to omany wine books and this was certainly well written with the expected references to "high culture". Interesting that both Turin and McInerney are either "highly cultured" or "incredibly snobbish" (whichever way you want to look at it).
Bottom line was that this book had me wanting to taste some non-Cabernet wines and to experiment a little bit outside of my normal world. I certainly enjoyed the Australian Shiraz that I opened in honor of finishing the book.
Recommended to wine lovers everywhere.
Note: Also see "Bacchus and Me: Adventures in the Wine Cellar"