Love by the Glass: Tasting Notes from a Marriage

There's plenty to dislike about this book. First is the style: it's written in the third person, as if by some distant friend of the authors, and that's a highly debatable choice for two people who are zealous advocates for wine being best experienced as an intimate personal event. Then, apparently in recognition of the fact that the 3rd person style has its limitations in this context, the authors throw in occasional personal asides in italics, adding an element of inconsistency on top of their initial poor choice. (A much better style would have been, say, the joint author style used in "All's Fair," the book that James Carville and Mary Matalin did together several years ago). It's thus almost hard to believe that these two are the esteemed writer/journalists that they claim to be...which, in turn, brings up another problem with the book: there's a typical baby boomer self-centered, self-congratulatory note here in a text that doesn't need it. Also in the stylistic department: the end of the book seems awfully rushed. After a leisurely pace through most the book, within the space of a couple pages at the end, the authors breeze through Martha Stewart, the dot-com bust, their decision to give up the traditional careers they started, and 9/11/01. On top of this, at least some readers are sure to find that the authors really are the wine snobs that they so often claim not to be. They admit, after all, to being Central Park West, East Coast, yuppy liberals who love eating at chi-chi restaurants and living close to the edge of their means while traveling the world. Oh, and for liberals who might be inclined to love the authors all the more because of all this, keep in mind that the authors barely explain their life decision to work for capitalist tool "The Wall St. Journal."I'll be darned, then, if I didn't enjoy every single page of this fantstic and wonderful book (much as I love John & Dottie's regular newspaper column). It seemed so honest and intimate. I literally laughed and cried while reading this book. I don't want to say much more, except read it yourself.And here's a fun tip for how to read the book: while you would do just fine to read it piecemeal (Chapter 1 here, Chapter 7 there, Chapter 4 later), read it cover to cover without thinking about it too much (i.e., without concentrating on gleaning every wine tidbit from every page). Then, go back when you're done, and look again at the chapter headings, each of which is titled after a wine. Then scan each chapter again to see where that wine fits into the story told in the chapter.

Just finished this excellent memoir by the authors of The Wall Street Journal's 'Tastings' column.While the authors do talk about wine a lot, it is truly a story of their lives and relationship long before they began writing about wine for a living.An excellent and quick read. Gaiter and Brecher are a wonderful couple, if a bit "precious" at times. I have seen them on [a television program] on occasion and was charmed by their love for wine and their desire to make it understandable to all. Wine is truly an obsession for them, but we can all learn from their obsession without taking it to that level.I highly recommend reading their "Tastings" column in the Wall Street Journal each Friday. It contains more information on particular wines and recommendations.

Even though I am not very interested in wine, I am a dedicated reader of Dorothy and John's weekly column in the Wall Street Journal. Their writing is wonderful, but it took me about a year to figure out that the column is really about life and that wine is just a vehicle for them to write about other things. (Those of you who listen to Car Talk on NPR might think of it as a comedy show that just happens to use cars as an excuse to be on the radio; this may be analogous.) When I figured this out, I sent mail to Dorothy and John at the Wall Street Journal, and I got an e-mail back from John in about 3 minutes saying in effect "Yes, you've figured it out; we use wine as a way to write about what's really important in life."Some of the most moving things that I have ever read were in their columns. I have found myself crying profusely at least three times while reading their wine column, and I'm not someone who cries very often, especially about wine. :-)As the previous reviewer notes, this isn't just one of the best wine books or the best autobiographies - this is one of the best books I've ever read.

I just finished reading LOVE BY THE GLASS. It's one of the best books I've ever read -- not one of the best wine books, not one of the best autobiographies -- just one of the best books. The stories (about Dottie and John and about famous and not-so-famous winemakers) are endearing and poignant and drove me to deplete the better part of a box of kleenex. It simultaneously took me back to my own wine roots in the 70's (Mateus, Gallo Hearty Burgundy) and gave me a history of wine in America. More than anything else, LOVE BY THE GLASS is a sweet and compelling story told through wine of two people you'd like to have as friends.

Dottie and John, as readers of their column in the Wall Street Journal inevitably call them, have written a book that's about life and love that sometimes made me laugh so hard that my 10-year-old wanted me to read whatever it was outloud. And sometimes, what was happening to them hurt and I felt pain not just for them, but for anyone who could be in that situation, whether it was struggling with infertility or dealing with the losses of Sept. 11th. Wine is usually something that people think of in terms of exclusivity. Only "some" people can know enough or afford enough or truly appreciate it. Their gift is their ability to bring a sense of the universal to things that often separate us. They build bridges between people, which they seem to have done quite naturally in their relationship. Race, religion don't seem to inevitably separate people in the story of their life. Instead, it's just like different vintages and varieties, to be sampled, celebrated and enjoyed for their own intrinsic merit.I was a non-wine drinker when I started reading their column in the Wall Street Journal. Now as my bottles collect along with some cherished memories, I feel like they've introduced me to new life adventures that are available to anyone--this book, even while it looks back, is a great continuation of that journey.