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| Bacchus and Me: Adventures in the Wine Cellar | 
 enlarge | Author: Jay Mcinerney
Publisher: Vintage
Category: Book
List Price: $14.95
Buy Used: $0.87
You Save: $14.08 (94%)
New (34) Used (38) from $0.87
Avg. Customer Rating:  18 reviews
Sales Rank: 207636
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 304
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.1 x 0.5
ISBN: 037571362X
Dewey Decimal Number: 641.22
EAN: 9780375713620
ASIN: 037571362X
Publication Date: March 12, 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Help save a tree. Buy all your used books from Green Earth Books. Read -> Recycle -> Reuse!
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| Customer Reviews:
| Showing reviews 1-5 of 18 | | NEXT » |
 Disappointing after 'A hedonist in the cellar' August 20, 2008
I read "A hedonist in the cellar" first and the reading was so enjoyable that I was looking forward to this one. It turned out that "Bacchus & Me" is not as good...
Not to mention some repetitions between the two books, I think "Bacchus & Me" are more for the novice wheras "A hedonist in the cellar" would be more for already advised hedonists.
I was sometimes bored with Bacchus and Me, despite the good writing and the humor sprinkled now and then, and I found the topics not so original (again as opposed and compared to "A hedonist in the cellar".
In a Nutshell, I recommend much more McInerney's second book about wine.
 Wonderful August 11, 2008
I personally have not read the book, I gave it to my father for Christmas because he owns a liquor store. He really enjoyed the book and found it an easy read for someone beginning to learn about wine.
 'Adventures' with a grape nut. June 19, 2007
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
"Since I have no real training in the official vocabulary of wine tasting--or for that matter, in gardening--you are more likely to find me comparing a wine to a movie, a poem, or a pop song than to an herb or a flower. These are the notes of a passionate amateur, a wordsmith with a wine jones" (p. xxiv).
Jay Mcinerney (1955) is not only a bestselling novelist (Bright Lights, Big City; Ransom; Story of My Life; Brightness Falls; The Last of the Savages; The Good Life), he is also an amateur oenephile (a "grape nut") and the wine columnist for House & Garden magazine. In his first compilation of wine essays drawn from his "Uncorked" column, McInerney proves he is "the best wine writer in America" (Salon), writing about his "first love" (Bordeaux), his initial prejudice against California wines ("Ripe, yes. Fruity, yes. So is Baywatch."), his nervous admiration for Helen Turley ("the wine goddess"), the "cult of Condrieu," champagne ("Beautiful Bubbleheads"), Burgundy ("If it's red, French, costs too much, and tastes like the water that's left in the vase after the flowers have died and rotted, it's probably Burgundy."), the most romantic wines, and pairing wine with food. McInerney brings his unique gift of terroir, wit, and opinion to these essays, making his book a must read for anyone who, like me, has a passion for really good wine and really good writing. And for those readers left wanting more wine adventures with McInerney, check out A Hedonist in the Cellar: Adventures in Wine (2006), ISBN: 978-1400044825.
G. Merritt
 Prada and nothing but trash....... September 21, 2005
17 out of 20 found this review helpful
As an employee in the wine business, and an everyday drinker, I personally know that I cannot afford purchasing 2nd or 3rd growths on a regular basis, never mind 1st growths and '55 and '28 vintage Chateau d' Yquem. This book, although some chapters were very entertaining, was nothing but a name dropping debacle. Rather than focusing on the everyday enjoyment of wine, the book strived more towards depicting the great parties Jay McInerney has attended and all snobbishness that comes with it, i.e.; a rich man turning down Cristal champagne because it was not Krug, McInerney's fear of getting wine stains on his prada clothes, and the infamous Millenium Party where he and other famous wine and food representatives had the pleasure of trying everything under the banner of luxury. I personally do not know Jancis Robinson or Sommelier Jean-Luc Le Du, and likewise I know at last 30 people who do not know them either; hence, speaking about their parties on almost every chapter (and this is not a long book, 250 pages) does not help me choose an everyday wine. Although I can imagine what an experience it must be to taste such wines, I do not need some name-dropping writer telling me that I can only enjoy wine by taking out my credit card and purchasing Petrus at $5,000 a bottle. I know I can have just as much fun, on an average day, with my girlfriend and a $20 bottle of Guigal's Crozes Hermitage.
Not your average Wine book December 9, 2003
I'll admit it I bought this collection of wine essays because I liked the title. Also, because there was a blurb in the dust jacket about French and German wine. I began reading the chapters in order of interest, not in the order in the book. After the first essay I was blown away with the descriptions. McInerney doesn't talk about wine like the rest of them. I thought, "this guy writes so well, this is like reading a novel." Then referring to the dust jacket again I discovered he um well has experience in that area too. Despite being fun to read, McInerney packs a lot of information into each essay. This book will not tell you everything you want to know about wine - it isn't an intro to wine collecting or a reference to keep through the ages as you collect wine. It is a collection of unique musings on the wonderful subject of wine. I loved it.
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