I’LL
DRINK TO THAT
Beaujolais
and the French Peasant
Who Made It the World’s
Most Popular Wine
by
Rudolph Chelminski
(Gotham, $27.50)
Reviewed
by Nancy Huang
In
the world of wine, no festival is celebrated more universally
and with more vivacity than the Beaujolais Festival, held worldwide
each year on November 15 to ring in the arrival of new wine. Author
Rudolph Chelminski introduces us to the festival and its history
in his new book, I’ll Drink to That. The
book offers an entertaining account of the underdog Beaujolais
and the peasants who fought to bring respect to the tiny winemaking
village. It’s a
lighthearted change of pace for Chelminski, who recently wrote The
Perfectionist, a behind-the-scenes story of chef Bernard
Loiseau and the French culinary world.
In
the book, Chelminski details the long history of Beaujolais
wine and the villagers who made it, describing the plight
of the poor man’s quaff that was spurned by those in
Burgundy and Bordeaux, France. The uniqueness of Beaujolais’ gamay
grape, easily drinkable when young, coupled with the marketing
innovation of Georges Duboeuf, now one of France’s most
famous wine négociants, eventually brought respect to
what was once peasants’ wine. I’ll Drink
to That also dives into the globalization of the wine,
from its rise to fame to the predicament of being a victim
of its own success.
Chelminski
mixes nostalgic vignettes with his own personal experiences
in the story, breathing life into what could have been a
boring history book on wine. The
book leans heavily on wine jargon and French terms, making
it less approachable to readers who are not wine enthusiasts
or Francophiles. But those who can appreciate what lies
beyond their glass of Beaujolais will fall in love with the
story of the little wine that could.