Families of the Vine

Description

Review "Sanders's book brings contemporary winemaking in France to life....Absorbing and informative."----Library Journal Book Description A fascinating and refreshingly down-to-earth book about French winemaking From the Back Cover A few good friends, a good meal, a glass of wine - what could be a more simple pleasure? Why then does the subject of wine often seem so complicated? In Families of the Vine Michael Sanders shares his experience of two wonderful years spent among French winemakers and vineyards - two years in which he discovered that the story of the wine from vine to glass is as much about the people who make it, their history and traditions as it is a tale of yeast, grape and barrel. The families of this book all work in southwest France growing malbec grapes, from which they have been making very good, very different wines for more than a hundred years. The author follows them through the seasons, sharing the hopes of spring, the anguish of a summer drought, the mad rush of the fall harvest, and then into the wine barns heady with the smells of fermentation.Families of the Vine is not just a fascinating guide to wine and winemaking culture. It is a celebration of the breathtakingly beautiful French countryside, the delicious traditional food and most importantly of all, a quite remarkable way of life. About the Author Michael Sanders, a former book editor and author of From Here, You Can't See Paris and The Yard, lives in midcoast Maine with his wife and daughter.