Italy in a Wineglass

The Story of Italy through Its Wines

By: Marc Millon

Narrated by: P.J. Ochlan

The world is enamored with Italy: its culture, art, food, and fashion, its beautiful landscapes, and famous cities-and, of course, its wine.

From the ancient Greeks to the Medici, and from fascism to feminism, Italy has always been entwined with wine. Through the millennia, it has been a celebratory libation at great events, given solace in times of despair, and fortified warriors before battle. Whether Possessioni Rosso, still made by descendants of Dante; Barolo "Lazzarito," from a wine estate founded by the son of Italy's first king; or Terre Rosse di Giabbascio, pressed from grapes grown on ex-Mafia land, the peninsula's wines provide an intoxicating insight into the ideas, events, and personalities that shaped Italian history.

If history can sometimes be throat-achingly dry, writer and wine expert Marc Millon serves up a delightfully fresh take on Italy's past, present, and future, best enjoyed with a glass in hand.

©2024 Marc Millon (P)2024 Tantor

Inappropriate as Audiobook- Read the Book Instead

The content is good, mildly interesting weaving of history and wine. The problem is that the author describes wines and regions to try or visit, but no PDF listing them. So if you're driving or cycling or walking, you can't write anything down, can't refer to a map, can't later find the wine online, etc. unless your memory and understanding of the Italian language are great. I've listened to many books that do provide a PDF or URL that are very helpful, I encourage Audible to provide something like that in this case, which would raise my rating to 4 stars.

Interesting but frustrating

I enjoyed the book, however i wouldn’t suggest you buy the audio version. There is no attached appendix so there is no way to see how the names of these different wines are spelled so there’s no way to specifically remember them. I would have also liked to see a map highlighting the different regions and locations of wineries.