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Love by the Glass: Tasting Notes from a Marriage

Average customer rating:

Tastes Good!
Wine, with love
Sweet, helpful, and unpretentious
Alcohol and I don't mix, but I still loved this book!
Disliked everything except the whole book

Love by the Glass: Tasting Notes from a Marriage
Dorothy J. Gaiter , and John Brecher
Manufacturer: Random House Trade Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0812966864
Release Date: 2003-01-14

Amazon.com

Dorothy J. Gaiter and her husband John Brecher are best known for their Wall Street Journal wine column, "Tastings," a passionate yet practical guide to their favorite subject. Love by the Glass: Tasting Notes from a Marriage is their marriage-and-wine memoir, an account of the couple's life together in terms of the bottles they discovered, shared, and enjoyed (or didn't) over time. If readers learn less than they should about the pair when their glasses aren't raised, they are nonetheless treated to a fascinating (as well as useful) investigation of a growing education and the bottles that fueled it.

Chapters are named for the couples' progressive wine discoveries, from the "rudimentary" (André Cold Duck, enjoyed on their first date) to the diversely more evolved (for example, a "magnificent" Gevrey-Chambertin Gérard Quivy provided in a basement shop in Burgundy). Other discoveries are delightfully serendipitous (like a "small" but delicious Collery brut champagne, enjoyed at the launch of the pair's wine Web site). In the process, readers follow the intertwining lives of the love-at-first-sight couple--he, from one of a few Jewish families in Jacksonville, Florida; she, African American and raised in the environment of Florida A&M University--as they blend burgeoning journalism careers with their love of wine. Emblematic of this ever-evolving infatuation, and a narrative high point, is the couple's maternity ward visit to wet the lips of their newborn second daughter with Taittinger champagne. Thus wine and love are once again mutually measured in a book all devotees of the grape, and of the couple who so plainly elucidate its mysteries, will want to read. --Arthur Boehm

Book Description

Love by the Glass is a captivating memoir by the authors of The Wall Street Journal’s weekly “Tastings” column, Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Brecher, who have merged their journalism careers with their love of wine. She grew up in the all-black environment of Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, and he was raised in Jacksonville, where his was one of a handful of Jewish families. Follow Dottie and John from their June 4, 1973, meeting in the newsroom of The Miami Herald to their first “Open That Bottle Night,” which put them on the road to becoming full-time wine columnists. From the André Cold Duck that accompanied their first date to the bottle of Taittinger Champagne smuggled into the delivery room to wet the lips of their newborn second daughter, lovers of books as well as lovers of wine can now join the wine world’s favorite couple as they embark on the ultimate quest for the perfect grape.

Customer Reviews:

Tastes Good!.......2006-06-16

What a wonderful way to organize a book! Most life stories are organized around major life events. This memoir is organized around the small events that matter in the long run. The wine is the supporting actor/ress, never overwhelming the stars, but always rounding out the story.

One day, Americans will drink wine with the same sophistication we currently save for sports, complete with fan clubs and tasting events, and of course, comptitions. In the meanwhile, wine is working its way into our family events, our personal acheivements, and intimate moments. This kind of "viral" change takes a long time. But eventually, wine will win.

These are wonderful events and worderful in the life of an interesting couple. The place wine has in their lives is probably not unique, but the writing is easy (like a summer Chard) and interesteing.

Get a glass of your favorite, whatever it is, and enjoy!

To your health, good times, and good friends!

Wine, with love.......2005-06-19

I have recently started to study the world of wines thoroughly. But when a friend gave me this book to read and told me that I might like it, I was a bit skeptical because I believed wine could be told only in technical and sometimes boring terms.
I just had no idea it would be such a charming and enjoyable reading.

The book is very unpretentious, written with lots of charm and fun - and especially with love. The story starts by explaining the long road the authors took before becoming wine columnists for the Wall Street Journal. It is delightful to discover how many years two people spent on discovering wines, learning about what they like, learning how to distinguish good ones from bad ones, and going on trips to wineries around the world. It is an honest and sincere story about how they discovered the unique pleasures wine can give. All that seasoned with their love for each other, and of course for wines.

I have to admit that there are some parts in the book where I think they may have stressed their private lives too much -- such as how much they struggled to conceive their first child, or how much their houses cost. But the story remains above all a captivating telling about their love story and wine.

I don't think there is anything more beautiful and enjoyable than a couple and their discovery of another shared love - in this case, the love for wine. But, of course, this is a very subjective view and wine plays a central role, and so I recommend the book only to those who enjoy reading about wine.

Sweet, helpful, and unpretentious.......2003-12-03

Gaiter and Brecher have employed their love of wine as a wonderful frame for the warm and touching story of their lives together. Both are people of incredible accomplishment who share their experiences and appreciation of wine in an uncomplicated, unpretentious, and understated fashion. While what they share about their evolving interest and expertise in wine is interesting, it is their own personal chronicle that is fascinating.

This is a wonderful book for the neophyte/developing devotee of wine. They frankly point out their initially pedestrian taste in wine, and their continued willingness to try seemingly unsophisticated, "fun", or inexpensive wines. I experienced some mild nausea reading what a wonderful principled paragon of good journalism the "Wall Street Journal" represents (in light of its editorial page); however, its credibility jumped in my estimation while reading this book due to the admiration I developed for them and their advocacy of the paper. This book challenged my assumptions, in that the seeming journal of the privileged features a wine column ideal for the needs of regular people.

"Love By the Glass" is a practical guide to savoring wine that doubles as a touching memoir. It is not a great book or a connoisseur's guide, but definitely is a fun and worthwhile read.

Alcohol and I don't mix, but I still loved this book!.......2003-11-07

I'm doing research for a series of romance novels about a family of winemakers. My friend, Gwen, recommended this book since she knew I was a neophyte where wine is concerned. I'm so glad she did. I learned a lot about wine, how to choose a good one, why wine changes from the moment you uncork it to your last mouthful.
I learned about the regions where grapes are grown, and why some grapes grow better in certain regions. I learned that oftentimes how good a wine is depends not so much on the soil the grapes are grown in, but the patience, passion, and faith of the winemaker. Most of all, this book is about enjoying life. Dorothy Gaiter and John Brecher definitely know how to do that! They're inspiring. A truly heart-warming story. And I didn't have one potent potable while reading it! :o)

Disliked everything except the whole book.......2003-08-22

There's plenty to dislike about this book.

First is the style: it's written in the third person, as if by some distant friend of the authors, and that's a highly debatable choice for two people who are zealous advocates for wine being best experienced as an intimate personal event. Then, apparently in recognition of the fact that the 3rd person style has its limitations in this context, the authors throw in occasional personal asides in italics, adding an element of inconsistency on top of their initial poor choice. (A much better style would have been, say, the joint author style used in "All's Fair," the book that James Carville and Mary Matalin did together several years ago). It's thus almost hard to believe that these two are the esteemed writer/journalists that they claim to be...which, in turn, brings up another problem with the book: there's a typical baby boomer self-centered, self-congratulatory note here in a text that doesn't need it. Also in the stylistic department: the end of the book seems awfully rushed. After a leisurely pace through most the book, within the space of a couple pages at the end, the authors breeze through Martha Stewart, the dot-com bust, their decision to give up the traditional careers they started, and 9/11/01.

On top of this, at least some readers are sure to find that the authors really are the wine snobs that they so often claim not to be. They admit, after all, to being Central Park West, East Coast, yuppy liberals who love eating at chi-chi restaurants and living close to the edge of their means while traveling the world. Oh, and for liberals who might be inclined to love the authors all the more because of all this, keep in mind that the authors barely explain their life decision to work for capitalist tool "The Wall St. Journal."

I'll be darned, then, if I didn't enjoy every single page of this fantstic and wonderful book (much as I love John & Dottie's regular newspaper column). It seemed so honest and intimate. I literally laughed and cried while reading this book. I don't want to say much more, except read it yourself.

And here's a fun tip for how to read the book: while you would do just fine to read it piecemeal (Chapter 1 here, Chapter 7 there, Chapter 4 later), read it cover to cover without thinking about it too much (i.e., without concentrating on gleaning every wine tidbit from every page). Then, go back when you're done, and look again at the chapter headings, each of which is titled after a wine. Then scan each chapter again to see where that wine fits into the story told in the chapter.

Average customer rating:

Love by the Glass: Tasting Notes from a Marriage
Dorothy J.; Brecher, John Gaiter
Manufacturer: Random House Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000NZU6QK

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