Words on wine

Wine writing takes many forms, some of them not all that decipherable.

One form is the description-laden jargon some wine critics use to tell us what wines taste like. Best exemplified in tasting-note format, this shorthand method of describing a wine often gets loony: "stupendously powerful chocolate, mocha and caramel flavors and a potent smoke-enhanced vanilla Š" Sounds more like a milk shake.

The late Legh Knowles of Beaulieu Vineyard, tired of this "purple" sort of affectation, finally convinced his company to take out ads in national wine magazines parodying the argot:

Wine Customer: Do your wines have prismatic luminescence?

Knowles: Would you remind repeating that in English?

Then there is the wine writing that was esteemed in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. These were essentially long-winded memoirs by collectors of great wines they had digested in the long-ago past. "Notes on a Cellar-Book," by Prof. George Saintsbury, has long been cited as a classic work of the genre, but the stuff, frankly, is a bit stuffy.

"Wine literature" is a huge category, but there is precious little literature in this area. Most books on wine are mere dissertations of the author's visit to a wine district -- complete with listings of the various houses that fall under the Grand Cru regulations, etc. Yawn.

One such (actually readable) book on California was Frona Eunice Wait's 1889 look at the wineries of California, entitled "Wines and Vines of California: A Treatise on the Ethics of Wine Drinking."

But even here the writing was imprecise, the author choosing to use generalities where journalistic reportage would have been preferred.

Over the years, more has been written about wine than just about any subject except for love, so a new work that is simply captivating me (I'm not yet through it; I'm savoring each page like a great Trockenbeerenauslese) is worth declaring to be a classic of wine literature. One of the first of the 20th-century chroniclers of the worldwide fine wine industry was English gardening author Hugh Johnson. It is his books "Wine," "The World Atlas of Wine" and "Hugh Johnson's Modern Encyclopedia of Wine" that have left such a lasting imprint on the reportage of the world of wine.

But lest anyone think Mr. Johnson is merely a chronicler, a fact-taker, I can say from personal experience that the man has not only an astounding palate, but also a sense-memory that rivals any mere memorizer. Hugh Johnson is passionate about wine, and he has definitive opinions about styles and character.

He was in the Napa Valley a few weeks ago, hosted by some of California's classic pioneer wineries.

Donn and Molly Chappellet, Bill and Deborah Harlan and Janet Trefethen of eponymous wineries, as well as Agustin and Valeria Huneeus of Quintessa, Jamie Davies of Schramsberg, and others, gathered to host Johnson on the publication of his new book.

It was a mutual admiration society.

Johnson's latest, "A Life Uncorked," delivers him in a new suit, one far more stylish than what his past followers may have imagined he wore, when all they got from his tomes were analytical dissections and a few subtle barbs (often so subtle they were almost inside jokes).

This magnum opus is a memoir, yes, and a special one at that, for Johnson weaves in more than a bit of personal opinion that is not only refreshing, but it also reveals a bit of the Johnson I have seen at dinners -- all too infrequently for my soul.

As Johnson takes us on a journey through wines, wine types and regions, he points out some of the folly, a lot of the joy and the vast mystery that makes some great wines simply impossible to get to know academically. His passion for the great wines in his cellar occasionally takes us to an unknown wine for which he has a personal affinity.

Anecdotal at times, pointedly opinionated at others, this book is a masterwork that ought to be savored (as I now am doing) and reread as a refresher course on what great wine writing is all about.

"A Life Uncorked," by Hugh Johnson, University of California Press, 384 pages, $34.95.

Wine of the Week: 2004 Novella Muscat Canelli, Paso Robles, "Rayons de Soleil" ($13) -- A light, sweet dessert wine that delivers an excellent floral aroma, with hints of carnations and gardenias, and good balancing acidity. This delightful new wine is from talented winemaker Rick Boyer at Eos Winery in Paso Robles.

Dan Berger resides in Sonoma County. Berger publishes a weekly newsletter on wine and can be reached at danberger@VintageExperiences.com.