Wine & Spirits - December 2020 - 18

BOOKS
GEORGIAN ROAD MAP

If you've ever been to Georgia, you've likely heard the story about how,
when God was creating the world, he'd asked people where they wanted
to live. The Georgians, however, missed the question, as they were too
busy eating, drinking and enjoying themselves. God was so heartened
by their attitude that he decided to give them the plot of land he'd been
saving for himself.
Georgia is, in fact, a place of incredible beauty, from the lush shores
of the Black Sea to the snow-covered peaks of the Caucasus. And it is
rich with stories as well. This makes it a lovely place to visit, but the
mountains and the myths make it tricky to reach a true understanding
of the place. Lisa Granik's The Wines of Georgia will help.
Granik, a Master of Wine who arrived in Georgia in the 1980s as a
lawyer on a Fulbright, gives a clear-eyed accounting of the country's
wine culture and practices. She describes wine's hold on the Georgian
psyche without getting carried off in the romantic bits; she honors the
craft of qvevri and churi, the country's traditional clay fermentation
vessels, while pointing out their challenges.
Her guide to 100 of the country's 400-some grape varieties is helpful for making sense of Georgian wine labels. But where Granik really
excels is in leading the reader through the country's wine regions, following rivers and mountain slopes to showcase Georgian wine in all
its rich variety. Along the way, she profiles winemakers doing exciting
work, such as Eko Glonti, a cardiothoracic anesthesiologist crafting
qvevri wines with care at Lagvinari in Khaketi; and Bastien Warskotte,
a Champenois married to a Georgian who is making sparkling wines at
Ori Marani in Kartli. Part reference book, part travel guide, it's an essential read for anyone curious about Georgian wine. -TARA Q. THOMAS
The Wines of Georgia by Lisa Granik, MW (Infinite Ideas, 2019; $40)

BETTER WITH BUBBLES

For most of her restaurant career, Ariel Arce has been focused on sparkling wine. It started with a gig at Birds & Bubbles, a restaurant in NYC
focused on fried chicken and Champagne. Later, she opened Riddling
Widow, eventually buying out her partner and transforming the space
into Air's Champagne Parlor. Now she's penned Better with Bubbles, a
book that's brimming with what she calls "silly stories, crazy experiences and technical metaphors."
Unlike Master of Wine Charles Curtis's Vintage Champagne: 1899-
2019, also released this fall, Arce's is not the sort of book that's meant
to be studied. Better with Bubbles is meant to keep you up at night-
writing a grocery list for your next bubbles-inspired soirée, updating
your Spotify with Arce's sparkling soundtracks, booking your plane
ticket to the motherland to follow her road map of the best sips and
eats, and compiling a wish list of bottles from her recommendations.
Arce gets technical, too, detailing the grapes, region, styles and history, but she makes it easy to digest, pricing bottles by how many pizzas it would cost, or making a producer's story into a screenplay.
And she doesn't stop in France: Almost half of the book is dedicated
to sparklers from elsewhere, from Spain to Japan.
What's most refreshing is how Arce approaches a product that is
viewed as a luxury. Her personality is what ultimately sets this book
apart: outgoing, humble and witty. -DEANNA GONNELLA
Better with Bubbles: An Effervescent Education in Champagnes &
Sparkling Wines by Ariel Arce (Universe Publishing, 2020; $40)
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WINE & SPIRITS

DECEMBER 2020

ALPINE WINE

While the Alps cover more than half of Switzerland, the foothills and
valleys below are rich in vines: more than 250 varieties, some local,
some long-ago border crossers from Germany, France and Italy.
Many of the best Swiss wines are rare, and the strength of the Swiss
franc makes the good ones relatively expensive outside the country. So,
unless you travel to Switzerland, José Vouillamoz's Swiss Grapes may
be limited to your academic interest. (There's lots of fodder here for
Master of Wine exam questions.) If, however, you are planning a visit
to Basel or Zurich, order a copy for sleuthing out some amazing new-
or ancient-opportunities in taste.
A noted ampelographer, Vouillamoz deciphers what would otherwise be the opaque code of the local wine lists, profiling each important variety, including crossings and hybrids, offering illustrated plates
of some, with notes on top producers. It's a localized, miniature version of Wine Grapes, the compendium of all varieties throughout the
world, which he coauthors with Jancis Robinson, MW, and Julia Harding, MW. This book is a scientist's love letter to the vines of his homeland. -JOSHUA GREENE
Swiss Grapes: History and Origin by José Vouillamoz (Fluide Communication, 2019; $27)

SCREWING HISTORY

Marilynn Karp specializes in finding value in lost things, whether it's
by incorporating them into her sculpture or honoring them through
her work: She has taught art and material culture for 42 years at New
York University and presides over the Anonymous Arts Recovery Society. Her skills are on full display in Uncorked, a lushly illustrated guide
to the corkscrew. While studying the form and function of each winepull, she traces the history of the world through basic Ts and ornate
coffee cranks, traveler's friends and Rabbits. Along the way, she drops
in tales of short-order cooks and suicidal sparrows, viper eau-de-vie
and the fragile life of a checkerspot butterfly-seemingly unrelated
stories that bring to light how much there is to learn from things
around us that we may have missed. -T.Q.T.
Uncorked: A Corkscrew Collection by Marilynn Gelfman Karp and
Jeremy Franklin Brooke (Abbeville Press, 2020; $25)

Wine & Spirits - December 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - December 2020