Corkscrewed: Adventures in the New French Wine Country (At Table) [Hardcover]

Robert V. Camuto (Author)

Book Description

Series: At Table | Publication Date: November 1, 2008

Robert V. Camuto's interest in wine turned into a passion when he moved to France and began digging into local soils and cellars. Corkscrewed recounts Camuto's journey through France s myriad regions and how the journey brought about a profound change in everything he believed about wine. The world of great wines was once dominated by great Bordeaux chateaux. As those chateaux were bought up by moguls and international corporations, the heart of French winemaking moved into the realm of small producers, whose wines reflect the stunning diversity of regional environment, soil, and culture terroir. In this book we follow Camuto across France as he works harvesting grapes in Alsace, learns about wine and bombs in Corsica, and eats and drinks his way through the world s greatest bacchanalia in Burgundy. Along the route he discovers a new generation of winemakers who have rejected chemicals, additives, and technologically altered wines. His book charts an odyssey into this new world of French wine, a world of biodynamic winegrowing, herbal treatments, lunar cycles, and grape varieties long ago dismissed as difficult.  A celebration of the diversity that makes French wine more than a mere commodity, Camuto s work is a delightful look beyond the supermarket to the various flavors offered by the true vintners of France.
 

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"[Corkscrewed] inspires thirst and curiosity. . . . Just as a trip around the French countryside reveals dozens of dishes that never make it to French restaurants in the United States, Mr. Camuto''s adventures will introduce readers to little-known French wines like Domaine Borrely-Martin of Provence, Chateau Mosse of Roussillon and Domaine des Tres Cantous of Gaillac and to the passionate individuals that persevere despite the absence of monetary reward. These may not be the wines that earn one spurs as a connoisseur, but they certainly may produce a worthy sense of humility at how much there is to learn. I can''t wait to drink them." --Eric Asimov, New York Times

"[Camuto's] enthusiasm for underdog grapes, regions and winemakers makes him a pleasant guide along the back roads of France." --Thomas Matthews, Wine Spectator

"If you think you would enjoy having a conversation with a passionate French wine craftsman, dive into Robert Camuto's delicious new book. I spend a good part of my life underground in France, and everything Camuto relates of his adventures rings true. And to those of you tiring of the varietal bandwagon, here's an escape route." --Kermit Lynch, wine importer and author of Adventures on the Wine Route: A Wine Buyer''s Tour of France

"[Camuto] is a stylish writer with a gift for describing the way his subjects look and think, and express themselves in words and wine. He explains each winemaker''s approach and results, also adding a bit of insight about intra-French competition and the export market in the French wine industry today." --Claire Walter, Culinarycolorado.com

"A good read." --JancisRobinson.com

About the Author

Robert V. Camuto has been a journalist for nearly thirty years. He is a regular contributor to the Wine Spectator and the Washington Post and his articles have appeared in many other magazines and newspapers. He and his family live in France.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 212 pages
• Publisher: Univ of Nebraska Pr (November 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0803276354
• ISBN-13: 978-0803276352
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #861,111 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The soul of winemaking revealed, October 13, 2008

By 

J. Loeffler (France) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Corkscrewed: Adventures in the New French Wine Country (At Table) (Hardcover)

When I lived in Napa, I saw the sad, inevitable industrial takeover of the wine community. Now the moneymen mass produce thousands of acres of mediocre cabernet or zinfandel in the Central Valley and slap a label with the word "Napa" on it to inflate the price. They doctor their mediocrity with wood chips and flavored yeasts. Some regions of France are losing their integrity to this bottom feeding mentality. Robert Camuto, like Kermit Lynch and director Jonathan Nossiter (Mondovino), seeks out the people who are wrestling the soul of wine away from the people and places that would sell it to the highest bidder. Corkscrewed hits it on the head with his uneasiness at the rote tasting sessions at Vinexpo. From there he takes us with him on his voyages of discovery, not as an expert but as a wine lover. He conjures images of the real, the genuine, the natural and the heartfelt in each of his visits to various wine regions in France. His comical, bacchus-possessed visit to the most over-the-top wine event in the world, the auction at les Hospices de Beaune, makes you realize that the Burgundians have somehow maintained their integrity in spite of the world wide clamor for pinot noir. His journey with the peasant (et fier d'etre!) in the Ardêche and that region's rediscovery of chatus, provides hope. The stories and survival of these intense, impassioned winemakers are essential for any wine lover.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Anyone who loves France or its wines will treasure Corkscrewed, November 20, 2008

By 

Thomas E. Korosec (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Corkscrewed: Adventures in the New French Wine Country (At Table) (Hardcover)

Although its principal subject is wine and the search for authenticity by some of France's most devoted winemakers, Corkscrewed does a wonderful job capturing a sense of place. The chateau-rich hills of Bordeaux, the pristine coasts of Corsica, the wine-growing corners of Provence and other lesser-visited regions take form as both backdrop and integral elements in Robert Camuto's French wine country adventures. Through a collection of expertly sketched characters, many of whom truly are characters, he brings to life the tension between craftsmanship and commercialism in this charming corner of world agriculture. These Frenchman are by turns humorous and stubbornly opinionated, and expertly rendered by an author with an eye and ear for telling detail.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Love Letters to Wine, May 13, 2009

By 

A. Nelson (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Corkscrewed: Adventures in the New French Wine Country (At Table) (Hardcover)

If what you worry about when you worry about wine is drowning in rivers and lakes and seas of homogeneous and technologically altered plonk ("a perpetual assembly line of high-octane wines that tend to taste alike"), help is on the way. Well, maybe not "help" per se, but inspiration.

Although you will most likely want to run right out and buy wines from all the producers profiled in the book, that isn't the point. The author is not a professional wine critic or wine speculator; he's a passionate observer and insightful investigator. He also loves wine and all that it can mean in the context of food, culture, society and history.

With an often elegant, sometimes eclectic, but always very personal style, Camuto demonstrates a truly inspired sensitivity and commitment to his subject. There's also something "deeper" in the book that I can't quite put my finger on yet but that goes beyond any prosaic comments about natural wine or devoted growers. Perhaps it's the notion that wine IS food, sustenance, and a catalyst for experiences that are even more significant and profound than what transpires in the vineyard or at the dinner table. At the very least, Camuto delivers "a collection of love letters to wine," as a Seattle reviewer aptly described it. That alone is more than enough for me.

"Corkscrewed" is the last in a rather long list of wine books that I've read over the past decade and more. I wish it had been the first.