Book review: One Thousand Vines: a new way to understand wine, by Pascaline Lepeltier
One Thousand Vines: a new way to understand wine
Pascaline Lepeltier
Mitchell Beazley, London, 2024
I first met Pascaline Lepeltier in 2014 when we were both involved in the grand seminar at the IPNC in Oregon (my report on this is here). Then I met her again in the Finger Lakes in August 2017, and a week later Christina Rasmussen and I dined at here restaurant, Rouge Tomate. It was clear that there was something special about her, and even though she was famous, she was very approachable.
Her book, One Thousand Vines, is a translation into English of the book she wrote in her native French (Mille Vignes: Penser le Vin de Demain), and I’m so glad that it’s found its way into English because it is a remarkable book, a once-in-a-generation book, quite unlike any other, reflecting a profound understanding of the world of wine.
In her introduction, Pascaline said that she set out to write a book of synthesis, and this is what she has achieved. She wrote it for herself:
‘I seemed to be missing a book – the one that would square the circle between super specialized knowledge and popular understanding. A book that would also forge a link between the disciplines involved in this oh-so-complex subject, with a view to cross-fertlization of points of view gleaned from areas of expertise that all too rarely meet, from ampelography to botany and even anthropology; from climatology to geology via geography; from microbiology to history; from economics to aesthetics.’
She didn’t grow up with wine, but instead studied philosophy:
‘When I love something, my passion will often turn into obsession, and this is what happened over the five years that followed: I rapidly discovered a taste for metaphysics, the study of language and the philosophers of life who posit existence as a creative and qualitative vital impetus beyond the grasp of the logical…’
Wine came along when, in need of a break, she was advised by a philosophy teacher to go to work in a wine shop. Her epiphany wine was a 1937 Yquem.
‘From the very first sip, I felt totally transported; I had never drunk anything like it…I was experiencing wonder … but I was also experiencing an idea that I had tried and failed to understand during my studies, the experience that Bergson calls durée, or duration. Unlike numerical, clock time, durée is an immediate index of our experience when the “self allows itself to live” with no attempt to divide, abstract, or count this “succession without distinction”, as in a tune when the notes “follow one after another.’
This moment made her realize she could live out previously abstract philosophical experiences through wine. She enrolled in a sommelier course, and the rest followed.
The wine world needs people like Pascaline very badly. Her great gift is that she has travelled widely and tasted even more widely, and she has the intelligence and aesthetic sensibility to do an amazing job synthesizing all the disparate aspects of wine, something she does brilliantly in this book. We begin in botany, with a brilliant and fully up-to-date story of the domestication of the vine, and then the notion of cepage, the French term that is hard to translate, and means more than just variety. There’s a chapter on hybridization (‘the past, present and future of grape vines’), a topic that is poorly covered in most wine education. Here she shows how open her mind is, and how sharp her understanding of science is. Then there’s a chapter on grapevine biology that would befit any science course. We have an insightful chapter on phylloxera and grafting, and a discussion of whether grafted vines have lost something in the process. The section on grafting is absolutely spot on.
Then we see the insight and understanding that Pascaline has amply displayed in a chapter titled ‘thinking differently about vines,’ introducing the hot topic of agroforestry, but also thinking more philosophically about the nature of plants, bringing in Goethe. This is a startlingly original piece of writing.
There’s a chapter on ecology, looking at the way the vine interacts with the underground world. This is brilliant, and topical, and makes some of the famous wine reference works look well off the pace. I should add here that the illustrations in this book are both beautiful, and also really useful, explaining concepts graphically. There’s even a double page spread illustration on the different sorts of Vite Maritata All’Albero, the Italian method of growing vines supported by trees. This is fantastic for a geek like me: something that is both historical, but also very contemporary as we seek to find a viticulture more in step with nature.
Then we have an insightful chapter on visualizing the viticulture of tomorrow. There’s a strong resonance here with the concept of regenerative viticulture, and once again, Pascaline gets it right.
The next section starts with climate, and then follows through with geology. This is a much-needed section, going through all the different rock types that form the basis for vineyard soils, and then asking whether there is an ideal soil for viticulture. This leads us onto a section on climate, soil and terroir. We then have a discussion about how roads, trains and cities have affected the viticultural landscape we have today. There’s a strong emphasis on France for examples, because this was originally a French book, but this isn’t a problem. It’s the concepts that are important.
A useful chapter looks at the use of the terms old world and new world, and suggests that while these once had relevance and utility, it’s time to let them go.
Then we head to the wines themselves, looking at the process of winemaking. There’s a brilliant discussion of microbes and their role in wine, and an explanation of élevage and ageing wine. It’s really thorough. And a great section on wine faults, and when a fault is actually a fault, kindly referencing my book Flawless.
Then we enter the territory of perception, with a discussion on wine tasting, and the way the brain processes sensory information. Again, I’m astonished by how good, readable, accurate and contemporary Pascaline’s writing is. There’s a chapter on the language of wine, and a discussion of minerality.
We finish with sections on service of wine, and wine and food pairings, and then a short look at wine of the future.
I cannot emphasize how good this book is. It’s tremendous work of synthesis, broad in its scope, thoroughly up to date, imaginative, philosophical, scientific and profound. There’s nothing like it.
To buy this book on Amazon https://amzn.to/3UWxim1
