Drinking with the Valkyries: Writings on Wine

Andrew Jefford

Hardcover

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Nominee:James Beard Foundation Book Award -Beverage without Recipes (2023)

"An entrancing companion for wine lovers. Celebratory, discerning writing with all the variety and unexpectedness of the wines explored." -- Michèle Roberts, author and Emeritus Professor of Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia
"This book is about feeling, tasting and describing the beauty of wine, as well as understanding the intensity of emotion that wine can engender." -- Decanter Magazine

"So precise and dancing, so chiselled and so free, as complex and delicious as your favourite bottle of wine, you will enjoy the world of wine differently after reading through Jefford's words." -- Pascaline Lepeltier on Instagram
"A new sort of literary gumption arrived on the scene with Andrew Jefford; a powerful blend of science and poetry. Here is a writer who does his interviews, delves deep into motives and methods, and then lets fly with whatever imagery he finds winging by." Hugh Johnson (2019)

Poet, philosopher, author, radio presenter and journalist, Andrew Jefford lives in France; but buried deep in one wine country what does he miss most about the rest? The answer: "Drinking young port. It's the wine drinker's equivalent of zorbing, wing-walking, base-jumping ... you won't fully understand it unless you have tasted it young, in its 'Ride of the Valkyries' stage, when it comes hurtling out of the glass and puts the screamers on you..."

Andrew is the ideal companion for anyone wine-curious. In this collection of his essays, opinions and articles he shares his fascinating observations from half a century of discovery. For Andrew, wine should be listened to and admired, wherever it comes from; old-school pretentions turned on their head; style-points disdained; stellar prices dismissed; questions asked...

Book Details

Publisher: Academie Du Vin Library Ltd
Publish Date: Jul 7th, 2022
Pages: 224
Language: English
Edition: undefined - undefined
Dimensions: 8.88in - 6.96in - 1.07in - 1.87lb
EAN: 9781913141325
Categories: • Essays & Narratives• History• Beverages - Alcoholic - Wine

About the Author

Jefford, Andrew: - "Andrew Jefford was born in Gloucestershire but grew up beneath the wide skies of Norfolk. Having discovered the pleasures of wine in his early teens, he learned more about it by making it - from carrots, apples, nettles, elderflowers ... and grape-juice concentrate. The quiet plop-plop-plop of fermenting wine in air-locked demi-johns tissued the night silence of the family home, while the finished wines (swallowed with a grimace) contributed to mealtime merriment. After study at the Universities of Reading and East Anglia, he worked first in publishing as an editor and then, from 1988, as a wine writer, taster, educator, tour guide and occasional radio presenter (on BBC Radio 4). He has written for many British newspapers, notably The Evening Standard and The Financial Times, and continues to contribute columns to Decanter and The World of Fine Wine; he also acts a co-chair for the Decanter World Wine Awards and as academic advisor to The Wine Scholar Guild. His books include The New France (2002), Andrew Jefford's Wine Course (2016) and Whisky Island (2019), a book about the Hebridean island of Islay. He has also published poems in The Spectator and The Independent. Andrew and his family moved to Australia in 2009 and to France in 2010, where they still live. He enjoys music and walking, but no longer makes his own wine."

Praise for this book

"An entrancing companion for wine lovers. Celebratory, discerning writing with all the variety and unexpectedness of the wines explored."

"This book is about feeling, tasting and describing the beauty of wine, as well as understanding the intensity of emotion that wine can engender."

"...indispensible book in which the formidable strengths of this writer are on full display."

"So precise and dancing, so chiseled and so free, as complex and delicious as your favorite bottle of wine, you will enjoy the world of wine differently after reading through Jefford's words."

"But while Jefford's lyrical, almost literary language is his calling card, I've long found the most impressive element of his writing to be the rigour."

"...the standout read has to be the recently published Drinking With The Valkyries, the writings, thoughts, and wine philosophy of Andrew Jefford."

"I open Jefford's books to skim through and find myself drawn in."

"He writes so beautifully."

"If there was a single wine book that Tam would beg wine lovers to buy in 2022, it would be this one."

"Andrew Jefford is the wine writer's wine writer. To read his words is to be drawn far away from the everyday world of professional wine-tasting."

"His prose is poised and purposeful, each word carefully considered yet never weighed down by pointed effort. He is a rarity in the world of wine: a writer whose (main) topic happens to be wine."

"Jefford consistently unearths and illuminates ways of looking at wine that continually deepen my appreciation and passion for the subject. I can assure you, if you love wine, this book will do the same for you."

"... devoted to the pleasure of wine, the experiences and all the reasons you are interested in the subject."

"This current volume is a collection of essays culled from the period 2007 to 2022 and it is safe to say that Jefford hasn't lost his touch."

"In a candid and wide-ranging interview to mark the publication of his superb new book Drinking with the Valkyries, WFW contributing editor Andrew Jefford looks back over his distinguished career, opening up about the art and craft of (wine) writing, his abiding love of wine, and his hopes and fears for its future."

"This is, instead, all about eloquent, open-minded, and generously inclusive wine appreciation: We're all invited, and reminded how much there is to enjoy."

"One of the great pleasures of Andrew's writing, and of this volume, is the great variety of pace, dynamics, tempo, and tone between his pieces."

"Reading through Drinking with the Valkyries - the title refers to the experience of drinking young vintage port - it struck me that Jefford is a throwback to a less specialised age."

"Jefford's essays are like that glass of wine at day's end - restorative, uplifting and enlightening. You may want to read another before putting down the bottle - I mean, the book."