Product Description

A chance conversation with a Provencal vigneron leads to the most unlikely of quests - a hunt to find France's palest rose. Extremely Pale Rose is a richly entertaining and informative account of the travels of Jamie, his wife Tanya and their ebullient friend Peter Swift, as they take up this challenge. Giving up their lives in London, they quickly discover an unfortunate truth - the French won't treat rose or their quest seriously. Rose is seen as a poor cousin to red and white wine, drunk largely as an aperitif or to wash away the taste of spicy food. In bars, boulangeries and boucheries from Bordeaux to Bandol, Jamie, Tanya and Peter are recommended diverse vineyards to visit and as they travel they encounter the beginnings of a rose revolution - French attitudes to pale pink wine appear to be changing, but is it too little too late to help them succeed in their quest?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #36351 in Books
• Published on: 2007-04-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

Yvonne Crittenden, THE TORONTO SUN
'a delightful read for anyone hooked on the food wine and glorious scenery of France.'

About the Author
Formerly a lawyer in London, Jamie Ivey elected to quit commuting and office life for a quest in France instead.

Customer Reviews

Extremely dull read
After all the glowing reviews, I was extremely disappointed in this book. There is no depth to it, I didn't feel as if I got to know the characters at all, and it was terribly tedious. I felt as if the author was cashing in on the fashion for books about people giving up their secure, well-paid jobs in order to explore the joys of southern Europe, and didn't do a good job at all. Buy second-hand, if at all!

Extremely Pale Rose
I am only on page 70 and I am loving every single word. A superb picture is painted by Jamie Ivey, his prose is wonderful and you feel that you are with them every step of the way as they travel in search of the palest of "Rosie" to beat a bet that has been set them. Their friend Peter is an unrepentant roue and comic and I hated putting it down when I arrived at Waterloo this morning. The most entertain 70 mnutes I have had for ages and passengers were reaching for the white jacket as I guffawed and tittered and giggled.

Can't stop, now off to devour another 70 pages on the journey home!

Very disappointing
Another opus out of the Peter Mayle 'Let's got to France' cottage industry, and an extremely disappointing read at that.
A middle class couple, give up their jobs and go to France on a whim to find the most pale rosie wine they can find, after meeting a french producer who challenges them.
The whole things smacks of being sponsored by either the French Tourist board or wine industry.
I didn't believe in any of it, each chapter becomes more repetitive than the last, and by continuing to fail to find their Holy Grail ( or by page 150 when I gave up) the book proves to be utterly pointless.
If you must read, find it second hand or in a charity shop; where my copy will end up.