Let’s face it, sometimes reading the back of a bottle of wine is simply not enough. We’ve all had the experience of tasting a wine so incredible we want to know everything about it at once: the name of the grapes, the style of wine, and why it tastes so much more incredible than any other wine we have ever experienced before.

Sure, reading the back of the bottle can explain quite a bit. Yet to quench your thirst for knowledge you have only two realistic choices. First, you can spend quite a bit of time, energy, and money in going to the various wine schools now available to you. Or you can invest in Jennifer “Chotzi” Rosen’s book Waiter, There’s a Horse in My Wine, the first in a series of books my Rosen (see my review of The Cork Jester’s Guide to Wine) and wine-related materials (like novelty card decks).

Does the title strike you as irreverent? Do you prefer titles like Scientific Examination of Soil Types In Global Wine Regions? Well, I can assure you that Rosen would be the first to admit that soil types are of key importance. Yet she is savvy enough to understand the importance of responding to what wine aficionados need to know now. Despite her first-rate wine education, she has the unique ability to translate what may be considered boring wine terminology into everyday language we can all understand.

Now I can describe all the cleverly written, brightly colored stories in this book, yet why ruin your fun? When she visits the Chianti Classico region, for example, she doesn’t bore readers with details about the soil, the specific demands of the appellation (for example, Italy’s strictly controlled DOC and DOCG regions demand a specific percentage of the blend to be the Sangiovese grape, a specific period for maturation, etc.). Instead, she entertains us with stories of three-hour lunches on the terraces of villas overlooking olive groves and the smoldering glances of bare-chested vineyard workers.

I hear you saying "I want a book about wine, not a glossy romance novel." Please understand that Rosen's book is about wine and, yes, she talks about soils and wine maturation and winemaker tools as well. But the truth is that most books about wine viticulture are as boring as reading a hundred pages about the proper cultivation of potatoes. You'll find that the magic of Rosen's art is to tease the reader with a fun colorful story and then explain the essence of a specific region.

Jennifer Rosen was on my radar screen long before Gary Vandnerchuk became a pop icon, so who is to say which of these zany wine entertainers was first to really “demystify” the subject of wine and make it fun and safe for adults to explore without tears. As a wine educator myself, the fun thing about Rosen's book is that it is great for neophytes as well as scholars in that it forces any reader to let go of old, outmoded wine associations. Thanks for this fun, juicy book, Ms. Rosen, and let us know when you too will become a wine show reality star.

 

Tagged as: cork jesrr's guide to wine, gary vanderchuck, jennifer rosen, waiter there's a horse i my soup

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