There is a new book out by Mondovino director Jonathon Nossiter. The book, billed as the ”anti wine guide“, should be a good read. Too bad it’s only been published in French so far… though an English version is due “late next year”.

From an AFP article:

Launched in Bordeaux on Tuesday evening, Nossiter said the book, “Le Gout et le Pouvoir” (Taste and Power), aimed to demystify wine and make it more democratic.

In a veiled attack on powerful critics such as American Robert Parker, whose arithmetical ratings of Bordeaux wines influence sales and prices, Nossiter says it is treason to taste 300 wines and then issue mathematical calculations.

We reviewed Nossiter’s documentary Mondovino last year and were very pleased with its detailed and refreshing take on the wide world of world-wide wine producers. (read our review of Mondovino here) Nossiter’s new work sounds like that movie in book form with some more specific advice for learning to be a truly independent wine drinker. Hoorah.

I wonder what Nossiter would think of sites like WineLog.
On the one hand we ARE putting the power in the people’s hands by replacing Ropert Parker-like reviews with a more democratic platform for learning what’s good and what’s not. On the other hand, I’d say our system is EVEN MORE mathematical than one guy’s 100pt score.

To be clear, we at WineLog totally agree with sentiment of folks like Jonathon Nossiter and Gary Vaynerchuk, who strive to get people to think for themselves when it comes to wine. While WineLog is another place to get ratings, we feel that those ratings will hold more meaning than other sources (since ours come from many drinkers and are derived from your own wine tastes).

More importantly, when WineLog is used correctly (when you maintain a “wine log” with us), it is an invaluable learning tool for discovering what it is you like in wines. WineLog is a learning tool. We already base our recommendations on your previous ratings and share with you tags found in common on wines you like. And just keeping track (for your own memory) of the wines you like and don’t like allows you to make informed judgements on your own. That said, we have a lot of features in store that look to build on this idea of discovering your very own “wine profile”.

Back to the Book
I was a big fan of Mondovino and really look forward to getting this book when it comes out in English. I can’t find the French version on Amazon, but I’ll try to post it here if I do.