A Life Uncorked [Hardcover]

Hugh Johnson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2006

Hugh Johnson, the preeminent wine writer of our time, now brings to his fans around the world his first major new book in a decade: this stylish, intimate, and delightfully opinionated autobiographical tour through the world of wine. A Life Uncorked weaves Johnson's wide-ranging ruminations, memories, and observations on his remarkable life together with information on every aspect of wine--from its technical production to its cultural significance. In luminous, utterly engaging prose, he taps into his enormous experience to consider topics such as tasting, cellaring, choosing, understanding, comparing, and buying wine, as well as wine's more ephemeral and personal pleasures, lures, and mysteries.
At the heart of A Life Uncorked is the idea that wine is more than a drink; its characteristics link it directly to memory, to locations around the world where grapes are grown and wine is made, and to the dining rooms, restaurants, bars, and gardens where we consume it. Johnson takes us to all of these places and many more in this delightful and revelatory memoir. Peppered with anecdotes throughout, A Life Uncorked simultaneously educates and entertains with its absorbing perspective on the complex and fascinating world of wine from one of its most well-known and well-liked aficionados.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Writing about wine is only one of British author Johnson's (The World Atlas of Wine) many incursions into the high life, as he recounts in this impressive 40-year journey. World travel, gardening, glassmaking and grape growing (at his own vineyard in Bourbonnais, France) have alternately warranted his attention since he began his career as a journalist in 1960 as British Vogue's first wine writer. Under the tutelage of legends André Simon and Elizabeth David, the young editor came of age, and he tracks his career milestones in terms of notable vintages, e.g., 1975 was a great year for Bordeaux, and the year he began his monthly column as pseudonymous Tradescant in the British journal The Garden; 1982 was the year of "marvelous clarets," and when Johnson helped launch Cuisine magazine as its wine editor. Convinced that great wine and glassware evolved together (in the 17th century), Johnson was even a purveyor of glass and silver for wine drinkers from his shop in London. His memoir proceeds following broad categories of wine—bubbly, white, red and sweet—each chapter replete with memories of remarkable trips, vintages, vineyards and people. Johnson opens his notebooks and the oenophile's lifetime experience richly spills forth. (Mar.)
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From the Inside Flap

"Vintage Johnson--lively, graceful, and satisfying. An engaging read."--Gerald Asher, author of The Pleasures of Wine and Vineyard Tales

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press; 1 edition (March 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520248503
• ISBN-13: 978-0520248502
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7.8 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #822,187 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A corking good read!, April 30, 2006

By 

Joshua E. London (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Life Uncorked (Hardcover)

I recently published a brief review of this wonderful book in the print edition of The Washington Examiner newspaper (www.examiner.com -- April 29 & 30th Weekend Edition). Here is that review:

Recently, I had the opportunity to catch up with world-renowned wine writer Hugh Johnson as he breezed through town promoting his new memoir on the inner workings of the wine world, A Life Uncorked. This is a deeply personal book. Yet, as Johnson admits, it is not an autobiography. Rather, this memoir is a personal journey, as much about wine as it is about his life.

For Johnson, wine is essentially "a social game" not merely an interest or a hobby. Wine is "about human relations, hospitality, bonding-all the maneuvers of social life-and all under the influence, however benign, of alcohol." Who can argue with that?

This social experience is richly transformative: "However good a wine may be, sentiment can make it better" and "with the right companion, a single wine can be a continuing conversation." In person, as in his writings, Johnson comes off as witty, personable, and charming, and his approach to wine is wonderfully infectious.

Never one to shy from a fight, Johnson (a Brit) takes issue with Robert Parker, the preeminent American wine critic. Johnson criticizes Parker's wine scoring system, which treats wines "like American high school students"-50 points just for showing up, 60 = dreadful, 70 = pretty poor, 80 = not bad, etc. Johnson decries the effect this approach has had on the wine industry, where wines are Parkerized to get higher scores.

Ultimately, Johnson's unpretentious and highly enjoyable attitude towards wine appreciation is compelling. As he plainly explains, "It depends on whether you see wine primarily as a drink or as a recreational substance. In a drink you look for something refreshing and satisfying without too loud a voice, not too intrusive on your food or your thoughts each time you take a sip." So take a page from Hugh's book, and enjoy a jolly good read with glass in hand.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Ideal Wine Mentor, April 7, 2008

By 

Tebes "Buchlieber" (Niagara Region, ON) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Life Uncorked (Hardcover)

This book is meant to be savored. It is all things wine and the appreciation of wine. Johnson's actual presence, his life's tale wanders in and out of the narrative. We learn about his schooling, his early university days, about his wife, his early work and publications but that's just part of the beauty of reading this book.

Imagine if you had a friend who not only spoke eloquently but who could talk at great lengths about a subject he held dear to his heart. Imagine this friend to be well-traveled, with many connections and stories to tell. Hugh Johnson might be that ideal friend. He doesn't talk down to the reader, he doesn't namedrop the way some wine writers do, glorifying personalities in the wine trade. Johnson is certainly living a comfortable life but his presentation of facts, experiences and meetings with great wine and great winemakers is lively and surprisingly modest.

The book is divided into several sections: Prospects, Bubbly, White, Red and Sweet. Throughout these sections he explores past episodes of his life, the people he met and the wines he encountered. His style is direct, light, poetic and friendly, an approach in prose that both informs and involves the reader. You never feel like you're being lectured to, mostly that he is here to mentor, to share and express his love of the great fermented grapes of the world.

I would recommend this book to all kinds of readers, especially the wine lovers. If you're starting out or know the difference between a Pouilly-Fusse and Pouilly-Fume, then read this. For wine writing, this work is a treasure. I wish there were more writers like Johnson working in the industry.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful, relaxing wine tour - through life!, September 3, 2006

By 

Stroke and Distance "J." (left coast, USofA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Life Uncorked (Hardcover)

I must admit that I've never followed the author's wine advice but I cut my wine teeth on his fantastic wine atlas. I bought this book on a whim and it's taken me months to drift through it - not because it's a hard read rather it's sort of a wine vacation experience best experienced without haste.

If you're a wine fan who needs a vacation but can't get away; read a chapter or two and live vicariously.

btw, yes, there is an oft-quoted sentence disparanging GWB and RP in the same whack. Not entirely off the mark though, is it?!