Extreme Wine

Searching the World for the Best, the Worst, the Outrageously Cheap, the Insanely Overpriced, and the Undiscovered

By: Mike Veseth

Narrated by: John Badila

In Extreme Wine, wine economist and best-selling author Mike Veseth circles the globe searching for the best, worst, cheapest, most expensive, and most over-priced wines. Mike seeks out the most outrageous wine people and places and probes the biggest wine booms and busts. Along the way he applauds celebrity wines, tries to find wine at the movies, and discovers wines that are so scarce that they are almost invisible.

Why go to such extremes? Because, Mike argues, the world of wine is growing and changing, and if you want to find out what's really happening you can't be afraid to step over the edge. Written with verve and appreciation for all things wine, Extreme Wine will surprise and delight listeners.

©2013 Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. (P)2014 Redwood Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"Highly recommended." ( Library Journal)

"Compelling for any wine drinker..." ( Booklist)

Interesting book, terrible narrator

I was a big fan of Wine Wars, by the same author, and this book goes along the same lines (perhaps too much so). The narrator ruined the experience, however, by mispronouncing almost every name liste in the book, and speaking in an excessively dull voice and overly enunciating every word.

Excellent audio narration

An occasional mispronunciation but he kept my interest throughout the book. The criticism listed below is unwarranted. The narrator is given text…if I the text is not properly vetted before he receives it, then mispronunciations occur though no fault of his own. This is a well documented book, properly presented via audio.

Food for thought

The extremes of the wine world seen through the lens of The Wine Economist. Provides some very interesting insights.

Worst Narrator Ever

What disappointed you about Extreme Wine?

The narrator mispronounced or simply misread a great deal of the content.

What didn’t you like about John Badila’s performance?

Horrible

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Extreme Wine?

I would have hired new narrator.

Any additional comments?

Mike Veseth is a fantastic writer. I really enjoyed Wine Wars, and was so excited to see the new title. The content was clearly top notch, but it was totally lost because of the guy they chose to read the text.

Narration like reading a wine list

What would have made Extreme Wine better?

To re-record the entire book, the narrator is terrible, he reads, LITERALLY as if he is reading a wine list. Zero inflection, zero appreciation for the content, and absolutely forced me to delete this book before I could make it through 10 minutes

What could Mike Veseth have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Go straight to his editor and demand a new reading from this book, anyone, and I mean ANYONE could do better.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Ever hear one of those radio commercials read by a local famous athlete? Where they stumble from word to word, jumping on each syllable like it's a life raft? Well this narrator must have played professional sports at one time in their life. The wooden inflection, it's as if someone asked a recovering alcoholic to read a book written about an alcoholic beverage.
Seriously, I could not make it through 5 minutes through a book whose content I find fascinating..seriously, I intern for no cost at wine festivals in Italy, that is how interested in this content. This narrator makes me wish I liked beer more

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

I'll never know because I can't get past 5 minutes with this narration

Any additional comments?

OMG really?
I think I might have already pointed out that this content is absolutely brain candy to me, however the dragging of fingernails across a field of broken wine bottles that is this narration has me wondering how this reader was ever selected by the publisher.