Noble Rot: A Bordeaux Wine Revolution

Bordeaux is the wine region centered by tradition and fame - but in the past two decades innovators have made their mark even in this sacred region, streamlining and adjusting established cultivation and fermentation techniques to produce a different type of wine than the classic bordeaux style. Noble Rot considers these renegades of the wine world, examining the underlying foundations of these changes from technological pressures to feuding chateaus. Using the harvest season of 2001 as its starting point, William Echkson's Noble Rot incorporates a season's results into his overall discussions of changes affecting bordeaux growers and winemakers. A fascinating history evolves.

William Echikson gives us a very accessible look at the Bordeaux wine industry and how it has changed in recent years. The "noble rot" of the title refers to the fungus which aids in winemaking, but it also refers to the collapse of the traditional, often aristocratic men who once dominated the trade. We are shown the traditional growers, the "garagistes" or new small growers who have revolutionized the trade, the merchants, the brokers, the consultants--and perhaps most important of all, the reviewers, led by the highly influential Robert Parker, whose reviews can make or break a wine. Among those who are discussed at length are Michel Gracia, stonemaker and garagiste, whose wine at its peak sold for over $100 a bottle, and the family Lur-Saluces, owners and producers of the famous Yquem, whose family infighting and arrogance leads to foreign takeover. They are fascinating stories, spread out through the book inbetween looks at co-ops who produce vast quantities of less stellar wine, and explanations of the hidebound 1855 classification system that, pre-Parker, once dominated Bordeaux. A worthwhile read from someone who clearly knows his field and loves it. Highly recommended.

This is an inspiring book. It is eminently readable - and presents wines in such a way that you can almost taste them in your mouth."Noble Rot" covers the dynamic changes occurring in the most famous wine region of the world - Bordeaux. It describes the frictions - sometimes pleasant, sometimes much less so - between Right Bank and Left Bank producers, between the old and the new ... and in my own personal opinion from tasting, between the historically good and contemporary outstanding.Here you will find insights into the world of wine making, the history of Bordeaux, family relationships and corporate takeovers, and on almost every page the sheer enjoyment of a glass of wine.The storyline keeps you hooked; the information would not overwhelm a novice, but has sufficient detail for the connoisseur; a smallest criticism would be that it would help at some stage to have some charts and maps showing who people are, the wines they make, and where their chateaux are. No doubt this is something for the second edition, of which there is sure to be one.For a book which will keep you entranced, and cause you to salivate at the wine (and even the descriptions of French food) - I have read none better.

A fascinating and insightful examination of the changes that have rocked Bordeaux and France over the last decade. Wine lovers will find something new, particularly the d'Yquem saga, and those only mildly interest in wine will still find this a fun, quick and interesting book. Echikson does a great job at bringing the characters the make some of the greatest wines alive.One of my favorite wine books and highly recommended.