The Vineyard at the End of the World: Maverick Winemakers and the Rebirth of Malbec [Hardcover]

Ian Mount (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 16, 2012

"The improbable triumph of the humble Malbec—the Seabiscuit of grapes." —Benjamin Wallace, author of The Billionaire's Vinegar

For generations, Argentine wine was famously bad—­oxidized, unpalatable, and often mixed with a low-class French grape called Malbec. But then in 2001, a Cabernet Sauvignon / Malbec blend beat all contenders in a blind taste test featuring Napa and Bordeaux’s finest. Today, Argentina and its signature wine are on the tip of every smart traveler’s tongue. How did this happen?

The Vineyard at the End of the World tells the fascinating, four-hundred-year history of how a wine mecca arose in the high Andean desert. Profiling the outlandish figures who fueled the Malbec revolution—including celebrity enologist Michel Rolland, acclaimed American winemaker Paul Hobbs, and the Mondavi-esque Catena family—Ian Mount describes in colorful detail the nefarious scams, brilliant business innovations, and backroom politics that put Malbec on the map.

12 black-and-white illustrations, map

Editorial Reviews

Review

“This well-informed chronicle captures the distinctive nature of winemaking in a country challenged by an unforgiving climate and political and economic instability.” (Kirkus Reviews )

“[Vineyard at the End of the World]… excels at telling the personal stories of struggling and speculation.” (Wine Spectator )

“An artfully written story of how a poorly developed wine culture grew into one of the best wine regions in the world… This engaging, important, and accessible book fills a gap in the literature of wine culture and history.” (Lisa Ennis - Library Journal )

“Mount’s impressive history… provides ample regional and global color in a lively addition to wine literature.” (Publishers Weekly )

“A definite must-read for Malbec drinkers everywhere, and Argentine wine fans.” (Lettie Teague - Wall Street Journal "On Wine" Blog )

“The rise of Argentine wine and the improbable triumph of the humble Malbec—the Seabiscuit of grapes—is one of the great untold stories of globalization. As Ian Mount shows with great energy and feeling, the tale is as much about people and their dreams and obsessions as it is about the delicious drink that motivates them.” (Benjamin Wallace, The Billionaire’s Vinegar )

“Ian Mount takes wine lovers on an intoxicating adventure. Anyone intrigued by how Argentina has amazed the wine world will love this gripping tale of invention, breakthrough and revelation. I enjoyed this wide-ranging book tremendously.” (Vivienne Sosnowski, author of When the Rivers Ran Red )

“The Vineyard at the End of the World is a fascinating account of wine-world alchemy: what happens when the old world and the new world meet on the Argentinean frontier. This book will convince you—as if there were ever any doubt—that, for international wine lovers, the golden age is now.” (Tilar Mazzeo, bestselling author of The Widow Clicquot )

“Ian Mount has found an important void in the current library of wine books: Mendoza and Malbec. The history is fascinating.” (George Taber, bestselling author of The Judgment of Paris )

About the Author

Ian Mount has written about wine for the Wall Street Journal, Food & Wine, and other publications. He lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; First Edition edition (January 16, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393080196
• ISBN-13: 978-0393080193
• Product Dimensions: 6.3 x 1 x 9.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #416,721 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A lively little history, well balanced with plenty of jammy gossip and a hint of acidity. February 16, 2012

By MattyC

Format:Hardcover

Like all of the best books of its kind, The Vineyard at the End of the World interprets a narrow subject - in this case the history of the Argentine wine industry over five centuries, with a particular focus on the last three decades - for a broad audience. While it's clearly the best book about Argentine wine on the market, it's not a wine book per se: Mount is a journalist not a sommelier, and his nose has been trained to sniff out good stories, not good years.

That's not to say Mount glosses over the technical aspects of winemaking: he's clearly done his research, along with a ton of interviews. But he never strays too far from the question that underpins the entire narrative, namely: How did a country whose history over the past century has been one of regress, build a wine industry whose history has been one of progress?

Without entirely rejecting the proposition that luck may have played a more important role than judgement in this success story, Mount expertly marshals a mass of historical (from depressions to dictatorships to devaluations), geographical (if you ever find yourself wanting to turn a desert into a wine growing region, this book will get you started) and biographical (Mount is a skilled draughtsman when it comes to character portraits) detail to address this apparent paradox - and somehow avoids getting bogged down. Best of all, he doesn't take himself, his subject, or the winemakers he writes about too seriously. Other wine writers, take note.

To conclude. If you're interested in Argentine history or Argentine wine, this is a must read. If you're interested in wine in general, this is a should read. If you couldn't care less about wine but enjoy well-written popular non-fiction, you won't go far wrong here.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Ian Mount's Vineyard - Pleasure, Pleasure and Pleasure November 27, 2012

By corkpuller

Format:Hardcover

Savoured, sipped and slurped this volume - and shouted at my friends over the phone about the happiness it gave me. I even wrote emails about it in the hillbilly language of the internet, "all-caps". A little doubtful at the start, once Ian Mount got into the meat of it, reading Vineyard at the End of the World was the kind of blissful relief one feels when a serious and mysterious discomfort is revealed to be simply something very uncomfortable one has found one is sitting on, perhaps an upturned garden rake or something of the kind. A special kind of pleasure.

Why the sense of relief? This book by Mount speaks a lot of rude and impolite truths, for example unapologetically documenting the nasty pesticide-adulterated diesel fuel that was and often still is low-end Argentinian wine, the truckloads of arrogance husbanded by the old regime of bodegueros, or the tatty mess that is the state of commercial contracts as interpreted on this side of the Southern Cone of South America.

I traveled and enjoyed some of the same regions of Argentina as Mount and visited some of the same places (it seems we share some of nearly the same photos), and although my exposure to the reality of the wine scene is flyspeck on Ian Mount's in-depth research, I had felt rather guilty holding onto my pointedly critical observations of the country, and its winemaking. Until Ian's book, that is - metaphorically, I could finally shout 'what's this bloody garden rake doing under my cushion!'

Even more fascinating are the detailed accounts of how foreign consultants and Argentinian can-do winemakers turned the whole thing upside down. I adore Argentinian wine and buy it eagerly now, even if the infuriating stuff at the bottom end is still best used in an Otto-cycle engine.... Mount provides loads of logical detail - e.g. what is the effect on primary flavours, as the vineyards descend in altitude from 10,000 feet (the highest anywhere) down to the eastern lowlands? (short answer: violets, black cherries, blackberry, plum, red cherries, strawberry). What are the tradeoffs as hang time in the intense UV irradiation increases, and acid levels drop off? How has the road-runner/coyote Argentinian economy affected the earnest efforts of the wine revolutionaries? Why did we all have to wait until nowadays to delight in the Malbec varietal?

I could go on, but why bother - snort and savour this one for yourself. You can see from the other reviews here that I'm not alone in singing the praises of this book. Long story short - I appreciated more than anything else the truth-telling Mount did, boldly giving us the negatives along with the plusses, rather than just being polite to his hosts with some nauseating Pangloss. Particularly happy-making was the description of that universally lauded Garden of Eden, the beloved of dreamy upscale tourist brochures, the city of Mendoza - as "butt-ugly". Thank you, Ian Mount. My only resentful misgiving about this book is that he hasn't written three more just like it. If you love wine, travel, winemaking, adventure, and/or staining your teeth purple, this thing is 98 Parker points out of 100. Read more ›

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Surprising Find March 13, 2012

By Bucky

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

This was totally unexpected and delightful. The author's knowledge of his subject matter was astounding and he spins the story in an entertaining and informative way. In a million years, you wouldn't expect to think of this topic as interesting, but it was more than that - it was enticing.

Strong recommendation!!!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Historical Review September 15, 2012

By Roger High

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Ian Mount's book is a concise, well written account of the 400 year odd history of wine making in Argentina. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, which is blessedly free of typos and grammatical errors which tend to plague some of the recently published wine books which I have read recently. So why not 5 stars then? Well the rather basic maps of the three wine growing areas on pages 18 and 19, do not have a scale so one has no idea of distances - this seems to be a re-occurring pattern for maps in wine books I am afraid. The title of the book includes the phrase "rebirth of malbec", which indeed is described in an historical context in the book. If you, like me mistakenly expected some advice on what to buy and what good value malbec wines should be purchased, then this is not the book for this kind of information. However that said the book is a very good read...for a history book of Argentinian wine making.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Vineyard at the End of the World February 26, 2012

By dr

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Anyone interested in wines, and especially Argentine wines, should buy this book. It is a well done history of the wine industry in this country. I found it fascinating and couldn't put it down. I liked it so much I just bought another copy to give as a gift to an Argentine friend! M Kelley

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally a professional journalist tells the story of Argentina's rise in the world of wine February 14, 2012

By James P. Danky

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Americans, and others, have been drinking the great change in Argentina's wines so the general outlines of the story are known. What is new here is the close reporting that Ian Mount brings to the tale. The author takes us beyond the press releases and soft trade press accounts into the personal lives of the winemakers and their struggles to create world-class wine. The detail is offered in a very engaging narrative and the book should be one that all who love Malbec and other wines from the South will savor.