The Grail

The story of Brian Doyle’s wine adventures begins at the beginning – Doyle being content with white wines and whose tastes aren’t really all that refined. (If we’re going to be honest with ourselves, white wine lovers who sit and camp there aren’t really the cream of the crop when it comes to wine.)

I like wine. I enjoy it periodically with a good meal or as a way to wind down the evening. My husband and I do not indulge often, but when we do we make sure to find something that we’re really going to like. We’re willing to explore and try new things. Jonathan eventually grew to appreciate reds. My growth was stunted. I can only go so far as a blush and I really prefer dessert wines and sweet whites. Therefore I laughed at Doyle’s opening remarks:

“I was young and raw and drank only white wines, not yet comprehending the complex characters and allures of reds, the muscle of merlot, the sunshine of shiraz, the nuance of nebbiolo, the burl and brawn of brunello and barbaresco, the hurrah of syrrah, the poetry of pinot noir. I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I drank the wines of a child, largely because the first wines I ever tasted as a callow teenager had once been apples and beries and motor oils and such.”

I’m a wine baby and I admit it, although my dad (a wine lover) and others have tried to cure me of this ailment, they have not succeeded. I like what I like.

The Grail: A Year Ambling & Shambling Through an Oregon Vinyard in Pursuit of the Best Pinot Noir Wine in the Whole Wild World documents Brian Doyle’s growth from “wine doofus” to wine affectionado, following a certain Oregon winery owner’s quest for a good pinot noir. It’s a documentary of sorts, told in short vignettes. This book is also illustrated by Doyle’s wife, Mary Miller Doyle, whose work you can view here. In total, this book is enjoyable. It’s a fun and different book on wine that I’ve never seen before and so if you enjoy a good glass or wine now and again, you might want to check this one out!

Carrie comes by her book obsession honestly, having descended from a long line of bibliophiles. She blogs about books regularly at Reading to Know.