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VIRGILE’S VINEYARD

Name: VIRGILE’S VINEYARD
Author: Patrick Moon
ISBN: 0-7195-6517-0

A YEAR IN THE LANGUEDOC WINE COUNTRY

by Patrick Moon ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2004

Seasoned with wit, though, it has legs enough for enthusiasts who may be thrilled to learn that there’s actually a Grenache...

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An Englishman crosses the Channel to spend a year in the vineyards of France. Overcoming the traditional Briton’s bewilderment at sunshine, he learns a bit about the quaint locals and an awful lot about oenology.

No, it’s not Peter Mayle, but erstwhile lawyer and first-time author Moon, who inherits Uncle Milo’s place in the southern region of Languedoc. The house is picturesque in a derelict sort of way, the vines neglected. The neighbors are sufficiently—as always—colorful to have been cast in an old Ealing comedy. Meet Manu, an imbibing, poaching rascal, and his fierce spouse. Waitress Babette is comely and bright. English historian Krystina teaches our pioneer some local history and seems quite eager to make some more with him despite his lack of enthusiasm for a bit of a romp. Virgile, the earnest winemaker, teaches the author what must surely be just about everything, from grape to glass, about the art and practice of viticulture. Virgile, in his cave, is immersed in wine—and at one point quite literally. He pulls out all the corks in relating the manifold tests and tribulations necessary to produce a product with exactly the right nose and body, a wine far different from Manu’s dreaded house red. Tastings include Virgile’s Carignan, Syrah, and Grenache Noir, then samplings of the local Picpoul, Mourvèdre, and Cincault. With truffles, trout, snakes, bees, and the Occitan language as adjunct studies, the author’s principal course in wine lore covers varietals, the vendange, and the sometimes baleful influence of the zodiac, the Romans, and the Appellation Contrôlée authorities. None of it is enough to faze Moon in his report on what he did on his vacation. With all the focus on French wine aesthetics, this isn’t designed for teetotalers or Francophobes (see John J. Miller and Mark Molesky’s Our Oldest Enemy, above).

Seasoned with wit, though, it has legs enough for enthusiasts who may be thrilled to learn that there’s actually a Grenache Blanc. (Map and line drawings)

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2004

ISBN: 0-7195-6517-0

Page Count: 288

Publisher: John Murray Press

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2004

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.