Overview

Award-winning wine writer Alice Feiring presents an all-new way to look at the world of wine. While grape variety is important, a surprising amount of information about flavour and composition can be gleaned from a region's soil. Feiring's guide makes it simple to find wines you'll love. Breaking new ground and revealing new connections, The Dirty Guide to Wine organises wines not by grape, not by region, not by New or Old World, but by soil. The same winning qualities found in a Bordeaux might be found in a Californian Chardonnay. Feiring provides a clarifying account of the traditions and techniques of wine-tasting, demystifying the practice and introducing a whole new way to enjoy wine to sommeliers and novice drinkers alike.

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9781581573848

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Reviews

... it can only be a wretchedly jaded or incurious enophile who fails to find in Feiring's writings ample invitations for discovery and discussion. -- World of Fine Wine Two fairly heavyweight books on the subject of organic, biodynamic and natural wines will certainly provide reading - and discussion - way past the 12th night. American author and natural wine advocate Alice Feiring's book is not about natural wine per se, but about vineyard soils. The Dirty Guide to Wine is full of contentious opinion, discussing the `effect' of different soil types and recommending wines based on that. -- Wine gift ideas for Christmas 2017 - Wine Pages ... as with all of Feiring's writing, the intention goes beyond data to a place where passion is discovered through perspective. -- Imbibe

In her newest book, Alice Feiring homes in on how an understanding of soil types can point to through-lines in wines from very different parts of the world. Rather than relying on tasting notes, Feiring attempts to ascertain the ways soil actually transcends a grape, pointing to tangible details like how a specific soil type can lend acidity or power, no matter the region. Limestone, for example: It is associated with elegance. Limestone is something that you first sense up front in the mouth, on the tip of the tongue, and it betokens a long finish with a linear structure. Feiring's sense of humor (as seen in her description of Brettanomyces as smelling like a small closet stuffed with live sheep ) and cheeky descriptions ( in a wet climate well-drained granite soil saves Albarino's ass ) are met with a real enthusiasm for the energy that earth can imbue in a wine. What emerges through Feiring's travels and tastings with her frequent co-conspirator, sommelier Pascaline Lepeltier, is that there's a way to evaluate wine that goes simply beyond taste.--Punch Magazine

In her newest book, Alice Feiring homes in on how an understanding of soil types can point to through-lines in wines from very different parts of the world. Rather than relying on tasting notes, Feiring attempts to ascertain the ways soil actually transcends a grape, pointing to tangible details like how a specific soil type can lend acidity or power, no matter the region. Limestone, for example: -It is associated with elegance. Limestone is something that you first sense up front in the mouth, on the tip of the tongue, and it betokens a long finish with a linear structure.- Feiring's sense of humor (as seen in her description of Brettanomyces as smelling like -a small closet stuffed with live sheep-) and cheeky descriptions (-in a wet climate well-drained granite soil saves Albarino's ass-) are met with a real enthusiasm for the energy that earth can imbue in a wine. What emerges through Feiring's travels and tastings with her frequent co-conspirator, sommelier Pascaline Lepeltier, is that there's a way to evaluate wine that goes simply beyond taste.--Punch Magazine

Author Information

Alice Feiring is a journalist, essayist and the author of Naked Wine. She is the winner of both the James Beard and Louis Roederer Wine Writing Awards. In 2013, she was named Imbibe Magazine’s wine person of the year. Her blog, The Feiring Line (Alicefeiring.com) has been published since 2004. She lives in New York City. Master Sommelier Pascaline Lepeltier is one of the world’s top wine pros, on the floor or in the lecture room. From Anjou, France, she champions its Chenin Blanc. Beyond wine, she refreshes with Cantillon beer and beats the drum for the liqueur Chartreuse. It is her deep belief that the word terroir is not to be taken in vain.

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