Vino Italiano: Wine Book Club Tickler #2

As we’re now a touch past mid-term in the assignment period for the first meeting of the Wine Book Club (WBC), it’s about time for a wake-up call. For those arriving late to class or just needing a helpful reminder, our first selected text is Vino Italiano: The Regional Wines of Italy, by Joseph Bastianich and David Lynch. For anyone wishing to participate in the first edition of the WBC, the due date is Tuesday, February 26. That’s exactly three weeks from yesterday. If you’re at all unsure of the ways and means of joining in, just check out the original club announcement for the full details.



It’s also time for me to deliver, as promised in my initial plug, a few questions to help all you eager wine book readers along the path to inspired reviewing.

• Has your general understanding of Italian wine grown through the experience of reading this text?
  
  
• Is there a wine region, particularly one that was previously relatively unfamiliar to you, that the book has inspired you to learn more about?
  
  
• If you were sitting behind the editor’s desk at Clarkson Potter, what, if anything, would you have changed about the book’s overall format, tone or style?

Just to keep things interesting, I thought I’d also offer up a few opportunities for you to earn bonus points in your reviews.

• For the critic: Did you find any editorial mistakes? If so, what were they?
  
  
• For the wine geek: Did the book inspire you to rush out and hunt down a wine or two? Then share some vinous love. Include your tasting note(s) in your review to earn kudos.
  
  
• For the gourmand: To earn double bonus points – and to inspire a little salivation among your readers – prepare a meal from one of the recipes in the book, pair the dish with a wine from the appropriate region, and report on the experience.

Please feel free to leave your progress reports in the comments section of this post. A little feedback from fellow WBC participants will certainly be good for everyone’s motivation as our due date approaches.

And if extra motivation is still called for, check out the first installation of “Spin the Bottle,” the interim session of the WBC. Dr. Debs at Good Wine Under $20 and Tim Elliott at Winecast were both charged with reading and critiquing Wine and Philosophy: A Symposium on Thinking and Drinking, a compendium of essays by various contributors, compiled by Fritz Allhoff. Tim has promised his review shortly; you can check out Deb’s now.

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