La Vie en Rose: A Very French Adventure Continues (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "In the centre of Aix-en-Provence, just off the main shopping street, is a quiet cobbled square..." (more)
Key Phrases: rosé bar, palest rosé, selling rosé, Murphy's Bar, Madame Bérard, Madame Chevalier (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for La Vie en Rosé:

“At last—a man who takes his rosé seriously enough to write a delightful book about it. Long overdue and very welcome.”—Peter Mayle, author of A Good Year

Praise for the Gourmand Award-Winning Extremely Pale Rosé:

"As with rosé, the ultimate fun wine...what counts is atmosphere, wit and of course amusing French people. It's great fun to read, especially if you enjoy sticking you nose into all sorts of little-known corners of France. The Iveys...can’t help but enjoy themselves, and so will readers."--Eric Asimov, The New York Times' blog, "The Pour"

"A light, entertaining tale."--Wine Enthusiast

"Witty escapism for those who enjoy, or enjoy reading about, good wine, good food, and good travel."--Library Journal

"Delightfully quirky debut….Full-bodied."—Kirkus

"In this carefree, breezy romp through the vineyards of Southern France, Jamie Ivey infuses a simple wine with the beauty of the countryside. Ivey will change the way you think of--and drink--rosé forever."--Natalie McLean, James Beard Award-winning publisher of Nat Decants at www.nataliemaclean.com

Product Description

In Jamie Ivey's delightful sequel to Extremely Pale Rosé, he attempts what seems the impossible—running a successful rosé bar in France. French friends laugh heartily and say it’s the silliest idea they’ve ever heard! Why, the customers for bars are mostly men and rosé is seen a woman’s drink; not to mention, it’s a seasonal drink and his trade will vanish come September! Then as if that wasn’t enough, bars make their money from food, rosé isn’t meant to accompany food. It’s flat out preposterous. But Jamie looks at the entire scheme through rosé tinted glasses, and the idea proves irresistible. In spite of everything, rosé sales are booming in France and the sales of reds and whites have grown stagnant. If Jamie can just find that perfect bar, in a pretty square, and chalk up a daily selection of different rosés, the bar could be a great success.

In a charmingly misguided journey that takes Jamie from Aix to Uzés and from Cannes to Juan Les Pins, he visits some of the eccentric yet wise vingerons from his previous journey and discovers what the French attitude to rosé really is. Are gnarled old men discarding their pastis and sipping pale rosé? Is it just a myth that the French don't drink rosé with food? Are the young the real reason for booming sales? Before he knows it, he has found the perfect bar hidden in the hills of the Luberon, and will do it up over the winter months. For all who enjoyed Extremely Pale Rosé, and envied Jamie’s candidly hilarious adventures, La Vie En Rosé is the perfect second glass.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press (April 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312375441
• ISBN-13: 978-0312375447
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #638,996 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars La Vie en Rose: More, please, May 14, 2008

By	Joanna Dee "Friuli" (Naples, FL, USA) - See all my reviews

If you've read the first La Vie en Rose, and you didn't book your flight to France, this one will do it! Incredibly sweet and entertaining. I'm now a huge rose fan! Charming, real and down-to-earth. If we never get to sell rose in France, this is the next best thing. Looking forward to hearing more from Jamie.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The continuing story of pale pink wine and life in the south of France, April 5, 2008

By	Robert C. Ross (New Jersey) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Jamie Ivey's Extremely Pale Rose: A Very French Adventure is a delightful travelogue about three wine lovers in search of the palest rosé wine in France. This sequel is devoted to seeing if it is possible to run a successful rosé bar in the Luberon.

The odds seem long: customers will be largely men; rosé is considered a woman's drink; rosé is a summer drink; and most bars make their money from food, and matching food with rosé is considered very difficult.

Rosé seems to be an in drink in France these days -- domestic sales of red and white wines are stagnant, while rosé sales are growing. Ivey works with bars in Uzes, Aix en Provence and Nimes to sell rosé, and does some useful market research. Encouraged, he visits some of the vignerons he met in the first book. He buys a bar in the hills of the Luberon, and plans to remodel during the winter. Hopefully, summer sales will keep his family through the the rest of the year.

Ivey's writing is as charming as ever. This extract from his web site is an example of his style and his insights into French culture:

"By the time that Tanya was four months pregnant we began to notice what can only be described as peculiarly French attitude towards her bump. Women who barely knew us came up and rested their hands proprietarily on our growing baby. To begin with we assumed that this was just the natural motherly urge exerting itself, the type of thing that could happen anywhere.

"Then the inquisition began. "You're still very slim," "Did your mother put on weight when she had you?" "Bien, bien, nothing at all on your legs."

"The statements, come questions, were complimentary, but there was an almost forensic level of interest in the changes that pregnancy had on the female form. The size and shape of Tanya's bump was closely monitored by the women of the village but it was only after the birth that I began to appreciate their perspective. They spent an obligatory minute or so cooing over our new baby and then they turned to Tanya. Hands were pressed against her stomach, and appraising glances cast upon her silhouette as she walked.

"As much as French women love babies there is one thing that they love more - their bodies, and as much as they made out they'd been monitoring the development of our baby, subconsciously at least they'd been keeping a keen eye on Tanya's body."

Ivey is planning a magazine "BlueSky Living" and another book on rosé, in both cases based in Provence. My guess is that both will be just as successful as his first two books at communicating his exploration of France.

Robert C. Ross, 2008

5.0 out of 5 stars Brought Back Memories, December 10, 2008

By	Lani Hickman "Lani H." (Fort Collins, CO) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I loved this book. It brought back memories of a teriffic week in Provence. Jamie's description of the French countryside and cobbled villages built into hillsides were as good as my travel photos. Remembering the food, the wine and my own adventures as the Ivey's story progressed just made me salivate to go back.