Today is the day for the  third edition of Wine Book Club, and hey, I’m hosting!

The book I selected is George Taber’s To Cork or Not To Cork: Tradition, Romance, Science, and the Battle for the Wine Bottle.

As I said when I announced the book, the whole cork/Stelvin/Zork topic is one that I’ve
found myself getting more and more interested in, so this was a book I really wanted to read. And I still do… and will.

What do I mean? Well, I’m apparently not a great host. I only made it about half way through the book.

I could list any number of excuses reasons, but I won’t. It doesn’t matter. I just didn’t finish it. But I have read enough of it to know that I’m enjoying it and that I really will finish it eventually.

So what can I tell you about it? Well first, it’s not your typical wine book. I don’t think that any casual wine drinker will get through even the first chapter.

It’s a book that is not a quick read. It’s heavy  on the history and will teach you more about wine closures that you probably ever wanted to know. And yet, for a geek like myself, I’m that’s very cool. I’m not normally big into reading historical narratives, but because I’m so into wine, I’m enjoying it.

I do wish that I had finished it in time to write about it. The section I’m reading now is about some of the composite and other natural cork alternatives. In some ways, their stories read like the swell and bursting of the Internet bubble of the 90s.

Would many of my wine-loving friends enjoy this book? Probably not. But, someone like my father, who is a retired science teacher and a history buff, would love this book. In fact, he’s going to get my copy when I’m done with it.

Thanks, Dr. Debs for letting me host…even if I didn’t quite fulfill my duties.