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| Virgile's Vineyard: A Year in the Languedoc Wine Country | 
 enlarge | Author: Patrick Moon
Publisher: John Murray Publishers Ltd
Category: Book
List Price: £18.99
Buy Used: £4.90
You Save: £14.09 (74%)
Avg. Customer Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 652233
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 5.6 x 1.2
ISBN: 0719562309
Dewey Decimal Number: 910
EAN: 9780719562303
ASIN: 0719562309
Publication Date: April 17, 2003
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews: Read 2 more reviews...
 Much more than vineyards October 11, 2004
7 out of 9 found this review helpful
I bought this as a wine enthusiast. In his year off in the Languedoc Patrick Moon was lucky to come across Virgile who needed every spare pair of hands in his struggle to produce wines in the traditional way, true to the terroir - rather than selling out as bulk production to the local co-operative. After reading the book I was pleased to see that Virgile's 2001 is one of the few Coteaux de Languedoc to be awarded 2 stars in a leading 2004 French wine guide.
While vines and wine making are at the heart of the book, its appeal is far wider. the fun really starts when the bottles get opened - usually at the instigation of Moon's neighbour and self-appointed wine guide, Manu. The tone of the book is set at their first encounter over a bottle of next door's home made at 10 am on a January morning. Despite all the pleasure of the seemingly endless tastings, one can't help feeling some sympathy for the author in the face of the ever cunning Manu - a cat and mouse game in which Moon is always the mouse. In his helplessness he emerges as the real hero of the book. A great read for anyone loving wine, food, France or just humour.
 Oh dear, what can the matter be? August 4, 2004
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
I picked up this book in a French book-shop. Reading the reviewing comments on the rear cover prompted me to purchase it, at a cost of 12 euros. Alas if ever there was a case of the journey being far more exciting than the arrival, then this was a case in point, except that the journey never got above the normal pulse rate.
After a slow start it got even slower, most of the characters, Manu, Krystina, Virgil and Madame Gros were not believable. Nobody can possibly be so naive - especially not a lawyer - as the author appeared to be. I detected familiar plots in parts of a rather dull story line. I kept hoping that the author would do something to snap me out of my boredom, I awaited in vain. At the end of two weeks I still had not finished reading it - despite being kept indoors by horrendous weather - preferring travel flyers, brochures etc. Having read a number of books connected to France as seen through the eyes of a British writer, I am usually left with a curiosity for the area written about...on this occasion I was just glad I managed to finish the book, but I did so want to enjoy it.
This is just 'another book on France' but with nothing out of the ordinary to justify its publishing...or price.
 Thinner than local plonk January 7, 2004
7 out of 10 found this review helpful
I picked up this book with some enthusiasm, having enjoyed a number of bottles of wine from the region and wished to know more about the place. While there is some good information in the book, the style is ersatz Peter Mayle, filled with scarcely believable characters, who all act in a stereotypical manner. In addition, there is not one instance in which a character goes to a bread shop or a butcher's: it must always be to the "boulangerie" or the "boucherie". We know you are in France, Mr Moon, you don't have to keep repeating it. If there is a perfectly good word for it in English, why not use it?
VINTAGE STUFF August 5, 2003
5 out of 9 found this review helpful
I have have just finished reading VIRGILE'S VINEYARD and I think Patrick Moon has given us a five star book.
I first heard about it on EXCESS BAGGAGE and then one of my friends said they thought I would like it.
I certainly have enjoyed the whole book and found myself understanding far more about that area of France and its wines. I had not realised the wine down there was so well worth trying, so have now started a bit of informed tasting too. I feel I am well on the way to becoming a connoisseur already.
Many thanks
 A view of a Languedoc winemaker July 1, 2003
3 out of 6 found this review helpful
Patrick Moon has written a competent and interesting account of his experience of learning about making quality wine in St Saturnin in the Herault. The book is written as a sort of neo-Peter Mayle account of a year living in his recently-inherited house in an area he hadn't visited for many years. In fact he bought the house in 2000 (according to an interview in the local paper). Leaving aside the interesting and occasionally amusing vignettes of local characters - many of whom are scarcely believable - the account of the process of helping his friend start producing high quality wine in an area once known for large quantities of poor quality wine is detailed, sympathetic and even enthralling. The books is worth reading for this alone.
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