Synopses & Reviews
Jonathan Nossiter, acclaimed filmmaker and former sommelier, had his first taste of wine at the age of three in Paris, from his fathers fingertip. For him, wine is “memory in its most liquid and dynamic form,” as essential an expression of culture as cinema, books, baseball, painting, even sex. With great wit and passion, he celebrates wine and its enthusiastsand defends both from those who tell us what to drink and how to think about it.
In Liquid Memory, the American expatriate investigates the infinite mysteries of terroir, the historical sense of place that makes wine a living, thrilling expression of cultural identity that can stretch back centuries. The book is a deliriously joyful master class in locating the soul of a wine, and in learning to trust your own palate and desires. Nossiter, who has already created an uproar in the world of wine with his film Mondovino, arms us against the tyranny of snobs, critics, and charlatans who would prevent us from taking part in what should be a gloriously democratic bacchanalia.
From the sacred wine shops and three-star restaurants of Paris to the biodynamic vineyards of Burgundy, from the hipster bistros of New York to film locations in Rio de Janeiro and Athens, this singular journey invites us to consider how power, misused, can sometimes mask an absence of tasteand how our own personal taste can combat power in any sphere. A controversial bestseller in Europe, Liquid Memory is sure to rile the establishment, enlighten the thirsty, and reveal the inner life of the worlds most mysterious, contradictory, and jubilatory drink.
Review
“Extremely entertaining . . . Nossiter makes a passionate case for the cultural importance of wine . . . Nossiters racy rudeness left me half drunk with pleasure.” —Jim Holt, The New York Times Book Review
Synopsis
Jonathan Nossiter, award-winning filmmaker and former sommelier, had his first taste of wine at the age of three in Paris, from his fathers fingertip. For him, wine is “memory in its most liquid and dynamic form,” an essential art. In Liquid Memory, the American expatriate takes readers on a cheeky insiders investigation of the mysteries of terroir, the historical sense of place that makes wine unique.
Nossiter, who already created an uproar in the world of wine with his film Mondovino, here reveals how the tyranny of snobs, critics, and charlatans prevents us all from taking part in what should be a gloriously democratic bacchanalia. From the sacred wineshops of Paris to film locations in Rio de Janeiro, this singular journey invites us to consider how power influences taste and how ones own taste might combat power in any sphere.
Unabashedly controversial, Liquid Memory has already riled the establishment, and it will continue to stimulate wine lovers and convert the skeptics for many years to come.
About the Author
Jonathan Nossiter is a film director and former sommelier. His feature films include Resident Alien; Sunday, which won the Best Film and Best Screenplay prizes at the Sundance Film Festival; Signs & Wonders, which starred Charlotte Rampling; and Mondovino, which was nominated for the Palme dOr at the Cannes Film Festival. He lives in Rio de Janeiro, the setting of his new film, Rio Sex Comedy, which stars Rampling, Bill Pullman, and Irène Jacob. Liquid Memory is his first book.