Salt & Old Vines

by Richard W.H. Bray

Grab a bottle of wine, and a glass. Pop it open. Pour. Hold it up to the light and see how the colour dances under it. See how bright it is, how it seems to generat its own light. Swirl it, and don't worry if you spill a bit. Have a sniff; get your nose in. Take a sip. Savour it, let it fill your mouth...Wine, claims Richard Bray, is a happy accident. Its journey from vine to bottle is fraught, and involves lots of human, fallible people. Men and women who've been picking grapes since six in the morning, or working the press since six-thirty; people who get hurt, who sweat, who bleed, who don't finish until late and need a beer at the end of the day; winemakers who started off as blues guitarists, and octogenarian Catalan farmers who hand-cut grapes faster than their grandchildren. Salt and Old Vines is the story of wine, a portrait of some of its people, and a biography of the place it comes from. Inspired by his own experience making wine at Coume del Mas and Mas Cristine in the Rousillon, Richard Bray gives readers a real taste of the winemaking process. Get your nose in there again. Has it changed at all? What's different? Take a sip, a bigger one. Let it linger. Finish the glass. The last sip is always the best...

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction

208 pages, Paperback

First published March 27, 2014

Reviews

[Edward Higgins · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're anything like me, wine is just that red stuff that comes in bottles for £4.99 in your local Londis...

But for Richard W H Bray - wine trader, sommelier and all-round bon vivant - it is so much more.

'Salt & Old Vines' is a warm, charming and deeply personal account of his days making wine in the Roussillon.

The book is beautifully written - full of colour and energy - and, although Bray is obviously keenly knowledgeable of his subject, he refrains from either condescending or preaching.

It is also a thoroughly engaging read. On his journey to make beautiful wine, Bray encounters work-shy Bordeaux wine snobs, drunkenly traverses vineyards in a kilt, decries the state of French breakfast cereals and ponders the fate of a local man affectionately known as 'Ball Sack Nose.'

Though 'Salt & Old Vines' is a fun and entertaining book, it does, however, leave you feeling rather sad.

Sometimes this is due to the author’s skill in mixing humour and insight with moments of great poignancy - but, mainly, it's just because you want to live that life too...

A brilliant debut. Highly recommended.

[Suzy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the style of the writing as Richard is very personable and this comes across well, including the humour. It's also clear that he tries to reduce the amount of jargon and technical terms used. Unfortunately I still found the book way too technical and that affected my enjoyment. I stumbled over all the names of vines, processes, areas and people. Although I enjoyed the insight into the wine making process, I was disappointed in the lack of story. This a a how to make wine book disguised as a travelogue. But rather than being one person's story of discovery along the lines of The Olive Series by Carol Drinkwater or A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle, it is a technical description of life in a winery.