I've just finished reading Noble Rot by William Echikson, this month's recommended read over at the Wine Book Club and I'm still not sure what to make of it.
The first chapter was quite a mix covering the pricing of the 2000 vintage, investment in Chateau Lascombes, new winemakers such as Michel Gracia and Parker's influence. There was quite a heavy emphasis on family feuds at Chateau d'Yquem throughout the book which would be interesting to those interested in that sort of thing which isn't me. Robert Parker got a lot of mentions which is to be expected given the author being American. I suspect therefore this book will be enjoyed a bit more by US readers rather than us Europeans. I had hoped for a bit more emphasis on what Bordeaux was doing to address the current crisis in the French wine industry but maybe at the time this book was written (2001 to 2003) it seemed like less of a problem than it is now. (For a very good summary of the current crisis listen to the podcast over at the UK's Harpers magazine.)
The last book we read for the Wine Book Club is now sitting on my bookshelf and gets referred to every time I want a bit more detail about Italian wines. Although I'm glad I have read Noble Rot I wouldn't go out of my way to suggest to others they buy it and I suspect it will sit on my shelf gathering dust.
If this was a wine I was rating I think I'd give it an 84.
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