Charlie Boston
Understanding European Wines
Charlie Boston; 2022
Ordering details on http://www.charlieboston.com/
How many clues do you have when choosing a bottle of wine in a restaurant? If you’re like most of us, not very many, which is a state of affairs Boston sets out to help you correct. As he says …
I have always had an interest in wine, especially European wine, so I decided to write this book about European Wines.
Nowadays people so often assume the best value wines come from the southern hemisphere and, whereas Australasian and South American wines are frequently very impressive, in my opinion, they do not offer better value than European wines. Furthermore, in this day and age when we should all be concerned about “carbon foot prints”, it is hard to justify importing wines from the other side of the world, particularly when the best wines are right here on our doorstep.
The aim of this book is to allow those faced with the responsibility of choosing a wine from a wine menu to make an educated choice. There is no guarantee that the wine you choose will live up to expectations, but at least you will have expectations.
There you have it in a nutshell. This is a book for the amateur enthusiast who wants something European and enjoyably drinkable, with or without a meal.
Boston started off his working life in the wine trade, so he knows what he’s talking about; and this leads to some good hints and highlights, and some equally strong opinions. He doesn’t impress easily. Many (although I’m not one of them) will no doubt disagree with him over his hatred of the over-hyped and over-fashionable Prosecco. Amongst other scything comments we are treated to:
The fact is all the finest white wine in the world is made in the Côte de Beaune and all of it is made from Chardonnay. Accordingly, anyone who likes white wine and says they do not like Chardonnay is, I’m afraid, an idiot.
Retsina is considered to be the traditional wine of Greece. It has its origins in ancient times when the pots in which the wine was matured (“amphoras”) were sealed with pine resin. Nowadays, resin from the Aleppo pine is added to the must during fermentation to produce the distinctive resinated style. It is very much an acquired taste which, in my opinion, is not worth acquiring.
Naturally enough Boston concentrates on France, with Italy, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Spain and Portugal all getting their own chapters. There is then a chapter on sparkling wines; another on pudding wines; and notes about other countries in a further chapter. I found this slightly puzzling: why give Austria and Switzerland their own chapters, but not Greece, which in my limited experience has equally as many, and as good, wines? For me, Italy and Spain produce just a much good wine as France (which still produces the very top-most wines), with the added bonus that it is usually slightly cheaper.
This is a easy and often fun read, and I found I kept turning the pages and reading the next chapter. Boston’s style is light and chatty, but informative, although I did feel it to be a little lacking in detail – I wanted to know more; but that’s not the book’s aim.
Sadly my biggest gripe is the maps. Boston provides maps of most of the major wine areas. Many are excellent, whereas others are barely readable: either with tiny type (originals too much reduced in size) or very fuzzy. That’s a shame as they are otherwise quite interesting and useful. The maps, plus the glossing over of Greece, lost the book a star.
Otherwise this is well produced and and enjoyable read with some useful tips.
Overall Rating: ★★★★☆