Grail, The: A year ambling & shambling through an Oregon vineyard in pursuit of the best pinot noir wine in the whole wild world [Paperback]

Brian Doyle (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 10, 2006

Book annotation not available for this title.
Title: The Grail
Author: Doyle, Brian/ Doyle, Mary Miller (ILT)
Publisher: Univ of Arizona Pr
Publication Date: 2006/04/30
Number of Pages: 208
Binding Type: PAPERBACK
Library of Congress: 2005032425

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Take the red hills of Oregon's Willamette Valley, a father-son winemaking outfit and one madcap wordsmith on a quest for the world's finest pinot noir. Let them ferment, and you've got a charming look inside the operations at Don and Jesse Lange's winery. An abundance of words (witness the book's subtitle), run-on sentences, rhyming, alliteration and stylized dialogue all contribute to a bacchanalian use of language that reflects Portland magazine editor Doyle's joyful view on both life and wine. With the author's bubbly sense of humor and sharp storytelling, dry facts become delightful tidbits. His descriptio of the grape vines' pollination process, for instance, bursts with sexual metaphors: "the wild seething scene in the vineyard, the vines fertilizing each other madly when no one is looking, the little tiny bras, the little tiny cigarettes, the recriminations at dawn." Like the wine Doyle writes of, these recollections are layered with subtlety and depth. Doyle ranges from discussing the basic pleasures of food, drink and conversation to ruminating on spiritual concepts. Perfect for wine aficionados and word lovers, this is a full-bodied, ebullient account. (May 30)
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Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Oregon State University Press (April 10, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0870710931
• ISBN-13: 978-0870710933
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #533,837 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Oenophhile's delight, May 18, 2006

By 

jlem "jlem" (Winchester, MA USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Grail, The: A year ambling & shambling through an Oregon vineyard in pursuit of the best pinot noir wine in the whole wild world (Paperback)

For an insider's look of a year in the life of a boutique Oregon winery, this is the book. We follow the Lange family, especially son Jesse, from the end of one harvest to the next. We learn that winemaking is not necessarily the romantic adventure we may think, but rather a labor-intensive farming operation with lots of machines that can break, everyday kinds of problems to be addressed. It isn't sitting back on a veranda sipping your latest creation - though there is some of that, to be sure - but lots of long days of often back-breaking work.

Doyle is a competent and often entertaining writer, with occasional flashes of brilliance. He is informative and insightful, taking the role of aggressive reporter on the scene, being our eyes and ears, asking the kinds of questions that we, ordinary wine drinkers, would ask. I found, however, that his writing can slide into stiltedness, with an occasionally annoying affinity for alliteration. Sometimes, he's too self-consciously, awkwardly humorous. And at other times, he digresses off topic so far that you wonder why he included it in the book. Yet, he is also capable of mocking himself for having done so - which doesn't excuse it. It comes off as self-indulgence.

One insight that I found particularly interesting was the aversion of the winemaker to pass judgment on any of his competitors' pinot noirs. Doyle tries several times to get Jesse Lange to compare his pinot noir to those of his neighbors - in vain. Jesse doesn't rise to the bait because, as he says, he has live here (here being Dundee, Oregon).

On balance, "The Grail" is a worthwhile, entertaining read. It was a gift to me, and I turned around and bought three more copies to give to wine enthusiast friends.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Grail, May 26, 2010

By 

Rose City Reader (Portland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Grail, The: A year ambling & shambling through an Oregon vineyard in pursuit of the best pinot noir wine in the whole wild world (Paperback)

Brian Doyle spent a year hanging around one of Oregon's premier wineries, getting to understand the winemakers, the process of making wine, and the almost mystic quest for The Best Pinot Noir Wine in the World. The result of his observations and pondering is The Grail.

Doyle focused on pinot noir because it is the wine that Oregon is famous for. The well-drained, volcanic soil of Yamhill County is capable of producing pinots to rival wines from the Burgundy region of France. Oregon wineries produce a wide variety of wines, but pinots can make a winery famous - or drive the winemaker crazy. As Doyle learned, pinot noir grapes are the divas of the vineyard.

Doyle's pinot schoolhouse was Lange Estate Winery and Vineyards in the Red Hills of Dundee, Oregon. Winemakers Jesse Lange and his father Don were patient and erudite teachers who explained to Doyle, not only the technical side of how to grow grapes and make wine, but the poetic and personal side of their business as well. Doyle augments their information with chapters on various related topics such as the history of the region, pinot noir from around the world, and his own musings on words, wine, dogs, friends, and spirituality.

Doyle's exuberant style conveys his good-natured enthusiasm for the stories he delights in telling.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rich in atmosphere, bright in taste, no regrets in the morning, August 31, 2006

By 

Doreen Lynn O'Skea "Readaholic" (Ashland, OR United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Grail, The: A year ambling & shambling through an Oregon vineyard in pursuit of the best pinot noir wine in the whole wild world (Paperback)

As a friend of the author, having read many of his tomes, most of his essays and all of speeches, I have to say this is the one that tugged at my taste buds. Reading this book is a heady little journey through the Oregon Hills that I love so much. As the story meanders on and the work gets harder you cannot help but want to be a part of the Lange family (or is that just me?) Yes, I know owning a great vineyard is hard damn work, but look at the harvest. Each bottle contains so much potential for great memories, great hopes, great conversations. Makes me wish I could go back in time 20 years and buy a pinot block in the Red Hills myself.