The Great Wine Swindle by Malcolm Gluck
87 out of 100

Published Sunday, April 26, 2009

Overview

Malcolm Gluck’s The Great Wine Swindle is a tell all look under the sheets of the wine industry, but reads more as an attack then a exposé. It has some very interesting points and stories but its vitriolic tone makes it less pleasurable to read.

I started reading this book and it threw me for a while, how could someone get so upset about the wine industry? The first half of the book is a straight attack on almost all elements of the wine industry. Initially Malcolm gets into the cheats and crooks, the people who have maliciously hoodwinked the drinker, I thought great stuff. But later, he continues to take big swipes at almost all aspects of the industry, the Appellation Controlee systems, the curse of the cork, supermarkets, restaurants, auction houses - you name it he has a go. Admittedly almost all of what Malcolm writes is based on quotable examples and not hearsay as far as I can tell, with some of the scams and stories I have not heard before, being quite believable. What has detracted from the book is the tone. After all any industry that has so many people in it, operating in all parts of the world, under any number of different laws is going to find scandals. So why is Malcom so bitter?

Later in the book it becomes clear that as a writer, Malcolm feels he has betrayed what he feels are his own high standards as a journalist, by writing his specialist column, and now defunct website, Superplonk. I suspect this is what has motivated him. On the way through he casts a stark light on wine writing both in terms of independence of writers, wine competitions and different styles of wine tasting notes. It was his review of wine tasting notes which interested me the most. He gives a range of tasting notes, and what he thinks are good and bad and why. Thinking about the style of note I write and what it conveys for me was enlightening.

It is a shame the book is written with such a vitriolic tone, as there is a lot you can learn about how parts of the industry do business and I think that would be one of just two reasons for reading it. The other would be for those who enjoy wine and want a tell all gossip style, behind the scenes book.

The Great Wine Swindle is an interesting read but not pleasurable. In the end I liked some of the content but not the attitude, but I am pleased to have read it and have rated it 87 out of 100.