TITLE: The Accidental Connoisseur
AUTHOR: Lawrence Osborne
PUBLISHER: North Point Press
COST: $11.40
TYPE: Reference
REVIEWED BY: Chris Carlsson, SpiritsReview.com

General Review: One of the more entertaining wine books I have read in quite a while. Generally wine books tend to be reference books with long explanations of grape types, wines, regions, tasting notes, etc. This book, on the other hand was one of the first about the politics of wine and the sport of Parker bashing – something that has been growing rapidly in popularity. It is an exploration of the personalities and issues in the wine world today. Terroir and the lack of it in many of todays wine is one of the major discussions in this book – along with the evil empire being planned by a cabal of wine makers in California and the cranky heroes of taste and individuality. It reads like a Robert Anton Wilson or Thomas Pynchon novel; the only sad part is, it’s true.

Lawrence is a regular contributor to the New York Times and other New York magazines.

For those with short attention span and dyslexic crowds, we suggest Mondo Vino.

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