Arkell Julie - Oz and Jamess Big Wine Adventure

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Epub ISBN 9781448141937

www.randomhouse.co.uk

Published in 2006 by BBC Books, an imprint of Ebury Publishing
A Random House Group Company

Copyright RDF Media Limited, Oz Clarke, James May and Julie Arkell 2006

Oz Clarke, James May and Julie Arkell have asserted their right to be identified as the authors of this Work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

Photography by Mark Reed (apart from by Kat Korba) Woodlands Books Limited 2006

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Commissioning editor: Stuart Cooper
Project editor: Eleanor Maxfield
Copy editor: Helen Armitage
Designer: Smith & Gilmour
Production controller: Kenneth McKay

ISBN 978 0 563 53900 1

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Oz Clarke is a man who can spend an hour talking lyrically about the character of a French wine without even opening the bottle. James May is a committed car enthusiast who likes a drink of an evening but can identify a wine only as being nice or nasty.

It made sense, then, to pair them up for a month-long road trip around the historic wine regions of France. Oz and Jamess Big Wine Adventure is a unique sociological TV experiment in which Clarke renowned wine authority, Francophile and a former Wine Tasting Champion of the World attempts to reveal the wonder of the worlds most arcane and complex viniculture to May a beer drinker who admires the Renault 4 but regards garlic as the devils own ingredient.

The results are often ugly and an embarrassment for Britain. But this is what happens when two grown men spend a month together in a car (and sometimes a tent) arguing about whos going to drive and whether or not it is acceptable to eat with your fingers in the Chateau of a French aristocrat.

So: what exactly are woody high notes and a fruity finish? Which white wine is the best accompaniment to fried spam? Can you make your own wine in a bucket? Should you spit or swallow? And where does this pole go?

For many people, French wine is a subject shrouded in mystery and confusion. So all the important stuff has been put in this book instead.

Oz Clarke spent many years as an actor before becoming wine correspondent for the Daily Telegraph. He achieved notoriety on BBC TVs Food and Drink and has presented and featured on countless other radio and television programmes. Ozs many books include his annual Wine Guide, Oz Clarkes New Essential Wine Book, Oz Clarkes Wine Atlas and Ozs Pocket Wine Guide. He has won Glenfiddich, Andr Simon and Wine Guild awards and was given the Special Millennium Award by Le Prix du Champagne Lanson for his outstanding contribution to wine education.

James May is a motor journalist and one of the main presenters of BBC2s Top Gear. He has also presented Driven, and in Christmas 2005 had his very own BBC2 special James Mays Top Toys, in which he relived his childhood, playing with machine guns, blowing up Action Man and recreating model train history. A freelance writer for many years, James has contributed to Car Magazine, the Scotsman, Country Life, One Life, Conde Nast Traveller and the Daily Express. He currently writes a column for Top Gear Magazine and the Daily Telegraph.

Julie Arkell began her writing career after 11 years in the wine industry, where her roles included Wine Manager at Guinness Belfast and Wine Manager for The Sunday Times Wine Club. She has been the drinks correspondent for the Daily Express and writes regularly for publications such as Harpers, Decanter and the Daily Telegraph. Julie has also presented and guested in the world of television and frequently lectures on wine. She runs wine courses, works as an expert consultant and arranges corporate wine tastings. This is her fifth book on wine and spirits.

CONTENTS

OK, so you love French wines already and want to learn more about them. Or perhaps youre a beer drinker whos watched the TV series this book accompanies and been inspired to undergo a conversion. Either way, the book will not disappoint you. Inside these pages is a wealth of region-by-region information that will increase your understanding of French wines and that will enhance your enjoyment of drinking them. It will guide you to making better choices when you order French wine in a restaurant and when you buy it in a shop (or even at a French winery).

In addition, youll find all sorts of practical hints and tips for planning your own big wine adventure for example, the best ways of getting to France, what local food specialities you should try when youre there (not to forget which French wines can be drunk with what when youre back home) and how to look after the wines youve ferried (or tunnelled) across the English Channel or should that be La Manche?! At the back of the book there are the names of the best companies offering organized wine holidays in France; if youre going DIY, youll also find the addresses of all the major tourist offices that can help point the way to a good tour of the various producers that welcome visitors.

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Theres always a ding-dong battle with Italy, but in most years France usually wins the honour of being the worlds largest producer of wine. But is France the producer of the best wine in the world? That is an altogether very different question. Well, the answer to this is yes and no. Yes because many French wines, most especially the top-flight reds and whites from the regions of Bordeaux, Burgundy and the Rhne valley, simply cannot be emulated by any other winemaking country, as hard as anyone tries (and try they do). The point here is that theres no doubt that France has created the model for the rest of the winemaking world. So where does the no bit come in? Well, put simply, at the bottom end of the quality wine scale, France is as guilty as any other winemaking country of producing its fair share of utter dross, wines that verge on the undrinkable. But after youve read this book, you wont be drinking any more of these, will you?

A fine example of Frances far-reaching global influence is its classic grape varieties, which have been grown in French soil for over 2000 years (Provence is the countrys oldest winemaking region). Many are the originals of the varieties that have now become international superstars: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir (to name but a few). This wouldnt have happened without France acting as the pathfinder, lighting the way to show the world where these grapes like to grow and how they should be turned into good wine.