Product Description

Among the rich cast of characters he meets during his year of exploration is Virgile, a young local wine-maker who offers to initiate Patrick into the mysteries of each season's work in the fields and in the cellar. Virgile is passionately committed to perfection, though he operates on a shoestring. At the other extreme is Manu, Patrick's dipsomaniac neighbour, a diehard traditionalist producing a private wine-lake of unspeakable rouge. With Manu as his self-appointed guide, Patrick embarks on a tour of the region's wine makers -- a succession of lively encounters with growers as varied as the wines themselves. Interwoven are digressions into the history of the region and its wine-making, from the earliest plantings by the Greeks and Romans. Meanwhile, the author struggles to deal with his dilapidated inheritance -- an unfamiliar and unpredictable world where the brambles have grown as tall as the olive trees, the water supply has just dried up and there is a ferocious animal under the roof tiles.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #421290 in Books
• Published on: 2004-03-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Review
'Patrick Moon, who inherited his neglected and remote house in the Languedoc region of southern France, writes with flair ! He is befriended by Virgile, a young local winemaker, who offers to teach him everything he knows about wine-making from the field to the cellar. The result is a fascinating seasonal tour' -- Daily Mail 20030523 'Patrick Moon finds himself living in one of the world's "happening" wine places and there are, as there must be in this sort of book, a good bunch of locals. Unlike the usual enthusiastic refugees from the north, Moon conducts himself with a mixture of surprise and reluctance. Like the wine, everything flows richly and generously from there' -- Sunday Times 20030420 'Rather superior and enjoyably informative ! Moon follows the progress of Virgile, a dedicated if penurious young wine-maker. Manu, a rarely sober producer of the old vinegary school, provides comic relief. In his roundabout way, Moon conveys a host of information about this fascinating corner of France and its main product' -- Independent 20030526 'Full of interesting characters and a fresh view on a fast-evolving region from an outsider who loves wine and is prepared to learn why one bottle, vineyard or estate differs so dramatically from another' -- Wine Magazine 20030501 'When Moon inherits a house in the Languedoc, he has no idea it will lead to a crash course in wine-making and a hilarious introduction to French hospitality ! The story is in turns funny, moving and instructional, with a wisdom that rises from every chapter and glassful. A delightful journal of calamity and discovery' -- Good Book Guide 20030501

The Week
'An entertaining account of the Languedoc's "wine revolution".'

Everything France
'Funny and involving ... Moon's witty banter flows as readily as the wine'

Customer Reviews

Much more than vineyards
I bought this as a wine enthusiast. In his year off in the Languedoc Patrick Moon was lucky to come across Virgile who needed every spare pair of hands in his struggle to produce wines in the traditional way, true to the terroir - rather than selling out as bulk production to the local co-operative. After reading the book I was pleased to see that Virgile's 2001 is one of the few Coteaux de Languedoc to be awarded 2 stars in a leading 2004 French wine guide.
While vines and wine making are at the heart of the book, its appeal is far wider. the fun really starts when the bottles get opened - usually at the instigation of Moon's neighbour and self-appointed wine guide, Manu. The tone of the book is set at their first encounter over a bottle of next door's home made at 10 am on a January morning. Despite all the pleasure of the seemingly endless tastings, one can't help feeling some sympathy for the author in the face of the ever cunning Manu - a cat and mouse game in which Moon is always the mouse. In his helplessness he emerges as the real hero of the book. A great read for anyone loving wine, food, France or just humour.

Oh dear, what can the matter be?
I picked up this book in a French book-shop. Reading the reviewing comments on the rear cover prompted me to purchase it, at a cost of 12 euros. Alas if ever there was a case of the journey being far more exciting than the arrival, then this was a case in point, except that the journey never got above the normal pulse rate.
After a slow start it got even slower, most of the characters, Manu, Krystina, Virgil and Madame Gros were not believable. Nobody can possibly be so naive - especially not a lawyer - as the author appeared to be. I detected familiar plots in parts of a rather dull story line. I kept hoping that the author would do something to snap me out of my boredom, I awaited in vain. At the end of two weeks I still had not finished reading it - despite being kept indoors by horrendous weather - preferring travel flyers, brochures etc. Having read a number of books connected to France as seen through the eyes of a British writer, I am usually left with a curiosity for the area written about...on this occasion I was just glad I managed to finish the book, but I did so want to enjoy it.
This is just 'another book on France' but with nothing out of the ordinary to justify its publishing...or price.

Thinner than local plonk
I picked up this book with some enthusiasm, having enjoyed a number of bottles of wine from the region and wished to know more about the place. While there is some good information in the book, the style is ersatz Peter Mayle, filled with scarcely believable characters, who all act in a stereotypical manner. In addition, there is not one instance in which a character goes to a bread shop or a butcher's: it must always be to the "boulangerie" or the "boucherie". We know you are in France, Mr Moon, you don't have to keep repeating it. If there is a perfectly good word for it in English, why not use it?