The Accidental Connoisseur: An Irreverent Journey Through the Wine World

by Lawrence Osborne

Book Overview

What is taste? Journalist Osborne takes off on a personal voyage through a little-known world in pursuit of answers. Weaving together a fantastic cast of eccentrics and obsessives, he shows how mass market tastes have made the elixir that is consumed today entirely different from the wine drunk by previous generations.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0865476330
• ISBN13: 9780865476332
• Release Date: March 2004
• Publisher: North Point Press
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.99 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.8" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Nicely done

An interesting, well written book that eliminates bias that most wine writers tend to place into their books. There is little pretension, and a genuine desire to learn that shows through these pages.

Smart, witty look at the world of wine

This was recommended to me by a former sommelier, and with good reason--this is a book about the way wine should be in the larger scheme of things. Think beyond Kendell-Jackson Chardonnay and Yellow Tail Shiraz. Wine reflects a time and place, not sugar craving. Osborne is a terrific writer, but not a wine expert, and that's exactly what makes this book so engaging. Highly recommended.

An irreverent and humorous approach to wine

This book is easy to read--a common-sense book that looks at the puffery of the wine scene. I bought additional copies and gave them to a couple of wine-loving friends. Wish I could read a book of this caliber each month.

A gem of a book

Under the quixotic travelogue disguise lurks a gently insightful, open minded and intelligent assessment of how we think about wine. For those who care about wine, this is a gem of a book.

Subtle and gentle odyssey

The exceptional reviews "The Accidental Connoisseur" has gotten are easy to understand. This is not really a wine book : it's more like a protracted mulling over the nature of the tourist economy, on capilalist fetich and on the nature of place. Thorouhgly recommended for its intelligence and insights.