Quotable Quotes, The Wine Lover by Magpie Books
78 out of 100

Published 06 January 2010

Overview

This book does not have an author to attribute the book to, but given that it's a series of quotes from a range of people it would be strange to put one on the cover. The book does what it says, it is a series of quotes about wine, from the great witty quips to some that leave you wondering what they are doing there.
As someone who has spent the last year digging around the internet looking for a weekly quote, when I received this book as a birthday present I was pleasantly surprised. The book has many quotes I have read before but some excellent new gems.
It is organised into 12 chapters: Drunkenness; Good Health; The Evil of Drink; Wine Buffs; Wine Women and Song; Champagne, the drink of gods; Reflections; Civilisation, Philosophers and Poets; In Vino Veritas; The Noble Vine and, finally, Toasts and Ditties.
Many of the quotes are very old, the most recent quote was 2004, but before that was 1992, with most from between the 15th and 19th Century and the bible. I suppose this saves any issues with copyright, although strangely the front of the book says it is under copyright! I guess I don’t understand copyright law. The age of some of the quotes means they lose their context, while some proverbs once translated lose either rhyming or meaning or both, although they do provide an off centre insight into different culture's view of wine at the time.
That said I need a new quote each week. This book has supplanted my rather messy word document I had been keeping to manage my quotes. To most people it makes an interesting coffee table book, easy enough to dip into and out at will. I think it most useful use is as a present for someone who you are not sure what to get a wine geek, such as myself.
Interesting? Yes! But the quotes are not all that well selected, I rate this book 78 out of 100 and would only purchase as a gift for a wine geek.