The Billionaire's Vinegar by Benjamin Wallace. It's a pretty fascinating non-fiction book covering the evolution of fine wines over the last 200 years, Thomas Jefferson's obsession with wine (he was the pre-eminent wine connoisseur of his day), the small world of high end wine collectors, wine auctions, wine counterfitters, and the most expensive bottle of wine ever bought ($155,000). I like wine but am in no way a collector. Nor do I have an overly developed wine pallet. This, however, is really fun book, no matter your level of wine expertise. From Publisher's Weekly: The titular bottle, from a cache of allegedly fine, allegedly French wine, allegedly owned by Thomas Jefferson in the 1780s, set a record price when auctioned in 1985. The subsequent brouhaha over the cache's authenticity takes wine journalist Wallace on a piquant journey into the mirage-like world of rare wines. At its center are Hardy Rodenstock, an enigmatic German collector with a suspicious knack for unearthing implausibly old and drinkable wines, and Michael Broadbent, a Christie's wine expert, who auctioned Rodenstock's lucrative finds. The argument over the Jefferson bottles and other rarities aged for decades, flummoxed a wine establishment desperate to keep the cork in a controversy that might deflate the market for antique vintages. (In the author's telling, a 2006 lawsuit almost settles the issue.) Wallace sips the story slowly, taking leisurely digressions into techniques for faking wine and detecting same with everything from Monticello scholarship to nuclear physics. He paints a colorful backdrop of eccentric oenophiles, decadent tastings and overripe flavor rhetoric (Broadbent describes one wine as redolent of chocolate and schoolgirls' uniforms). Investigating wines so old and rare they could taste like anything, he playfully questions the very foundations of connoisseurship.
Finished earlier this month On The Wealth of Nations and The Ethics of What We Eat. Now I'm about 200 pages into The Brothers Karamazov. Scribo...How are you and your family doing? It's your wifes old coworker from Lark. I'm currently taking some time off and traveling. When I get back in January maybe we can take a drive down to Portland to watch a game since Seattle is no longer an option. Cheers
We were wondering what you were up to. We kind of lost touch after you left Cremant and had wanted to get together for the last Rockets game in Seattle. Where are you traveling? We're doing well. We have an 8 month old daughter now, so life is a whole new adventure. Lauren's been back working for about 5 months now. She took the pastioli gig at Cafe Juanita since they allowed her a very flexible schedule, but she's jonesing to get back to the line. I'm doing well with my writing. It's not as consistent as I'd like, but I'm a father and getting some writing done so I can't complain. Definitely let us know when you're back in town, so we can catch up and hear about your travels. We'll definitely have to get a caravan to Portland to catch a game next season.
Yeah I had dinner at cafe juanitas just before I left and they told me Lauren makes the pasta and doesn't work nights. Good for her. I'm currently in Madrid and have been for the last month. I'm heading over to Barcelona in a couple of days and gonna spend the next month in that area. I've come to realize that Seattle needs a authentic tapas bar. I'll get in touch with you guys in January. To actually respond to this thread topic I think when I'm done with The Brothers Karamazov I'll try to get a hold of The Billionaire's Vinegar if I can.
I thought that was pretty fun, and the corn stuff was amazing. I'm reading What Hath God Wrought?, a US history covering about 1814-1845 or so. It is absolutely amazing; I've never read this kind of detailed history for fun, so I guess it's absolutely and finally official: B-Bob is old.
Vince Bugliosi's book about the JFK assassination. I'm on page 400-something of about 1600. It's a very good read so far.
Nothing to lose- Lee Child I just finished Hey Rube- Hunter S Thompson Generation of Swine- Hunter S Thompson
Finally can read my own choices after finishing school... Just finished: Working on: After finishing those off and dooming myself to heck, I'll start on:
i just finished "The Memory Keeper's Daugher" and I'm starting "The Count of Monte Cristo." i wasn't much a reader for like 10 years (age 14-24...yes, lots of Cliff's Notes in HS) meaning i read 3-4 books. and i'm an engineer so no, we didn't have to read any books in college. in the last 5 years, i've gotten back into the swing of it and enjoy it a whole lot more. i read "Great Expectations" last year and i couldn't believe that all this time, i thought it was Miss Havisham that was his benefactor! when i realized it wasn't, i felt like i was walking around the world for the last 15 years not knowing the obvious. my bro and sis made fun of me, deservingly.
