The wine cellar in the book looked nothing like this. It was in a cave. |
Josep planted roses next to his vines--they were like the canary in the coal mine--they would show damage before it effected the grapes. |
Captain Picard in his family's vineyard. |
A casteller |
As in The Physician, I did not greatly relate to the main characters in this book, although they were much better drawn in The Winemaker. There is a sustained underlying danger in the book, which is very nicely done and made Josep more human, more fragile, than the superhero of The Physician. Good job, Mr. Gordon.
Wine and me...
A glass of wine in college was more likely served in a red Solo cup, if they had been invented yet. |
Now I appreciate a good wine. I also appreciate a bad wine and a cheap wine. My friends the Wallaces have great wines at their table (and in the middle of the afternoon as well). In honor of The Winemaker, I recently picked up a bottle of screw top at Walmart (vintner to the masses) for $5.65. And it was wonderful--a sweet wine made supposedly with blueberries! Finally, a wine that really did taste like juice. I have been quite juice-dicious in drinking it.
I guess everyone is due one or two incredible hangovers. During my time at Ohio State, it was a badge of honor. And, I learned that the alcoholism gene passed over me. If I was going to have developed a dependency, that would have been the time. Most of the time, I found that drinking and trouble were closely linked in my life and as I set out to survive my own experiences, I became more and more abstemious (been looking for an opportunity to use that word). I didn't have enough resources to keep squandering them in recovering from drinking-related incidents!