MacLean - Red, white, and drunk all over: a wine-soaked journey from grape to glass

With enough wit and wisdom to fill a magnum-sized decanter, MacLean imparts knowledge without seeming teacherry, thanks in part to a conversational style that never seems writerry.

Minneapolis Star Tribune

As she rambles through vineyards and occasionally stumbles tableside in the dining room, [MacLean] subtly informs the reader on dense subjects like biodynamic farming, food-and-wine pairing, the effects of 2, 4, 6-trichloroanisole on wine, and why wineglasses come in so many shapes.

Atlanta Journal Constitution

[L]ike a box of open chocolates, it sucked me in and before I knew it, I had finished the whole thing... Natalie MacLeans writing makes me want to pack a suitcase and order a flight ticket for anywhere she plans to go.

eGullet.com

[Redy White, and Drunk All Over] will please neophytes and connoisseurs alike... Unlike so many esoteric wine books, this one's a page-turner.

South Florida Sun Sentinel

[MacLean] tackles the subject of wine with unbridled enthusiasm... reading about her adventures in the wine trade is like cozying up with a friends diary.

Seattle Times

[MacLean] manages to cram a ton of practical information into a lively, often droll narrative.

Chicago Reader

MacLeans memoir of her journey into and around wine is a grand start... No lists, no quickie bits, but a long, satisfying read.

St. Petersburg Times

MacLeans book refreshes with its evenhanded treatment of the outsized personalities populating [the wine] industry.

Newsweek

[A] breezy and fun read, but well researched and full of great storytelling... One of my favorite wine books of the last several years.

Wine Spectator

Teetotalers, beware! Natalie MacLeans Red, White, and Drunk All Over is such an engaging and delightful read that its bound to make a wine lover out of everyone who picks it up.

Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page, James Beard Award-winning authors ofBecomingaChef,CulinaryArtistry,andWhat to Drink with What YouEat

Natalie MacLean deepens ones appreciation of wine as if she were beside you. Her adventures in wine-tasting are as accessible as your favorite pop song.

Kermit Lynch, wine merchant and authorofAdventures on the Wine Route

Natalie MacLean is a voluptuary with brains. Abandon your inhibitions as she takes you through the wonderful world of wine, teaching you everything you need to know along the way.

Louisa Thomas Hargrave, director, Stony Brook University Center for Wine, Food, and Culture and author ofThe Vineyard

MacLean is an exuberant guide to common and uncommon realms of the wine world.

Michael Ruhlman, author ofThe Reach ofaChefThe Soul ofaChefandCharcuterie

Natalie MacLean takes us along as she navigates the sometimes treacherous wine landscape, from vineyard to wine store to restaurant to her own kitchen, putting it all in perspective and even putting a wine snob or two in their place.

Edward Deitch, wine columnist, NBC and MSNBC.com

A galloping read, which educates, entertains, and amuses... [MacLean] is the George Plimpton of wine writers; she shares insights from her day in the life of a vineyard worker, a winemaker, a wine sales person, and a sommelier.

Ann Noble, professor of viticulture, University of California, Davis and creator of the Wine Aroma Wheel

Im not sure Ive ever seen someone so sensibly or surreptitiously provide a starch-free education in wine... And beyond being a terrific writer, [MacLeans] fun company.

Danny Meyer, coauthor ofThe UnionSquare Caf CookbookandSetting the Table

Red, White,
and
Drunk
All Over

A WINE-SOAKED JOURNEY
FROM GRAPE TO GLASS

Natalie MacLean

BLOOMSBURY

Copyright 2006 by Natalie MacLean

Wine Meets Its Toughest Matches copyright 2007 by Natalie MacLean

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information address Bloomsbury USA, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.

Published by Bloomsbury USA, New York

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

MacLean, Natalie.

Red, white, and drunk all over : a wine-soaked journey from grape to glass / Natalie MacLean.1st U.S ed.

p. cm.

ISBN-13: 978-1-58234-648-9 (hardcover)

ISBN-10: 1-58234-648-8 (hardcover)

1. Wine and wine makingAnecdotes. I. Title

TP548.M195 2006

641.2'2dc22

2006004693

First published by Bloomsbury USA in 2006

This e-book edition published in 2008

E-book ISBN: 978-1-59691-849-8

www.bloomsburyusa.com

For my mother, Ann, the ground in whose soil I have my roots;my husband, Andrew, the trellis to whom I cling; and my son,Rian, the eternal sunshine in my life.

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION
The Making of a Wine Lover

I REMEMBER THE night I tasted my first good wine. My future husband, Andrew, and I had just graduated from university and were enjoying our wealth relative to our student days. We dined out a lot and our favorite place was a small Italian restaurant around the corner from our apartment.

The first time we went there, the owner, a tall, burly man with fierce dark eyes, asked us if wed like to try the brunello. We thought at first it was a regional dish, but it turned out to be a red wine from central Italy. We were relieved not to have to tackle the wine list: neither of us knew much more about wine than which fluffy animals on the label we liked best.

When the owner opened the bottle tableside, the pop of the cork seemed to pierce something inside me and relieve a little pressure. He poured the brunello, a rich robe of mahogany, into two tumblers with none of the pretentious sniffing and approval ceremony. Chim! he said, and bustled off.

As I raised the glass to my lips, I stopped. The aroma of the wine rushed out to meet me, and all the smells that I had ever known fell away. I didnt know how to describe it, but I knew how it made me feel.

I moistened my lips with the wine and drank it slowly, letting it coat my tongue and slide from one side of my mouth to the other. The brunello trickled down my throat and out along a thousand fault lines through my body, dissolving them.

My second glass tasted like a sigh at the end of a long day: a gathering in, and a letting go. I felt the fingers of alcoholic warmth relax the muscles at the back of my jaw and curl under my ears. The wine flushed warmth up into my cheeks, down through my shoulders, and across my thighs. My mind was as calm as a black ocean. The wine gently stirred the silt of memories on the bottom, helping me recall childhood moments of wordless abandon.

Andrews eyes had softened and we talked with the wonder of unexpected abundance about our lives together, our career goals, our hope for a family. The pasta seemed unnecessary next to this wonderful wine. To paraphrase Robert Frost, our conversation glided on its own melting, as we moved from delight to wisdom. By the time we were on our second bottle, I started to feel so flammable that I wondered if I were violating the buildings fire code.

When we finally got up to leave, we realized that the restaurant was empty. We said good-night to the owner and he slapped Andrew on the back as if he were choking on a bread stick. That was the first of many happy evenings there, and we drank that brunello for a year. A pilot light had been ignited inside me; over time it would grow into the flames of fullblown passion.