Love by the Glass: Tasting Notes from a Marriage - Softcover

Gaiter, Dorothy J.; Brecher, John

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0812966864 ISBN 13: 9780812966862

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group, 2003

Synopsis

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.

About this title

Review

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

From the Back Cover

“A memoir, a love story, and a wine tutorial.”—Chicago Tribune

“Even for those of us who don’t know Mondavi from Mateus, Love by the Glass is a treat. Wine columnists Dottie Gaiter and John Brecher have one of the best marriages you’ll ever see, and a delightful story to tell.”—Carl Hiaasen

“A sophisticated and elegant book about love, marriage—and the drink that made everything that much sweeter.”—Rocky Mountain News

“Candidly romantic . . . a timely taste of lives lived happily and well with wineglass in hand.”—The Seattle Times

About this edition

• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0812966864
• ISBN 13: 9780812966862
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 316