I've taken to reading books on the subject of wine, and the last time I was in France, I noted a book on Bordeaux wines, which had been translated from English. I managed to track it down at Amazon, and have been working my way through it for the past few days. The book is Noble Rot, by William Echikson. It's an interesting read, because it seems to reflect the other side of the story most French sources present - it's all about how wonderful the 'modernisation' of the wine industry has been. I think I would have stopped reading it some time ago and considered my 17 dollars wasted were it not for his character sketches of some of the winemakers, which are interesting. Other than that, it seems a bombastic book by someone who really ought to know better, full of ignorant americanisms. I had expected better from someone who had spent much of their life abroad, but I was obviously expecting too much. If you have any interest in reading about wine, skip this one and look elsewhere.

Hey Dave and Greetings from France! To provide you with an alternative to the ridiculous wine book you're reading I think the next book you should look for is: "Adventures on the Wine Route" by Kermit Lynch. If you can get past the fact that the author's name really is Kermit it will provide you with probably exactly the opposing views as those expressed in what you're reading now. PS: Love to Sasha from the Mrs. and myself...