The Juice

Jay McInerney has written unique, witty, vinous essays for over a decade. Here, with his trademark flair and expertise, McInerney provides a master class in the almost infinite varieties of wine, creating a collage of the people and places that produce it all over the world, from historic past to the often confusing present. Stretching from France and South Africa to Australia and New Zealand, McInerney's tour is a comprehensive and thirst-inducing expedition that explores viticulture, investigates great champagne and delves into a vast array of styles, capturing the passion that so many people feel for the world of wine. Puritans may object to his style, but McInerney makes no bones about being a hedonist, and his style seems to me perfectly suited to his subject Simon Griffith, Mail on Sunday Jay McInerney has been laying open the modern American elite for nearly three decades in his fiction, beginning with his acclaimed debut Bright Lights, Big City. In similar fashion, he's also done a very effective job of demystifying viticulture ... sparkling yet robust ... Even if you're teetotal, it's intoxicating Ben Felsenburg, Metro Like the character from the film Sideways McInerney deplores what he calls the "ripe, fruity, oaky over-manipulated Frankenwine" that has been typical of so much New World production, and loves the subtle yet earthy charm of pinot noir, above all the sublime reds of Burgundy, which he writes about with knowledge, passion and wit Lewis Jones, Spectator He asks good, obvious questions - "is it possible to taste minerals in fermented grape juice?" ... and answers them unfussily. He skewers biodynamics choosing some of its founder Rudolf Steiner's more out-there pronouncements, and quotes Keats without appearing too affected. He wears his urbanity easily - he describes sliding down a Cornas hillside in Gucci loafers, and casually drops in his friendship with US novelist Bret Eastern Ellis. The impression is of an omnivorous intelligence and a keen wit. I can almost see him shaking cocktails for McLean Adam Lechmere, Decanter Wonderful ... few professional wine writers are also superb writers ... McInerney ... loves wine, and he writes beautifully about it -- Tim Crane Times Literary Supplement