Passion on the Vine: A Memoir of Food, Wine, and Family in the Heart of Italy

By Sergio Esposito

Book Overview

As a young child in Naples, Italy, Sergio Esposito sat at his kitchen table observing the daily ritual of his large, loud family bonding over fresh local dishes and simple country wines. While devouring the rich bufala mozzarella, still sopping with milk and salt, and the platters of fresh prosciutto, sliced so thin he could see through it, he absorbed the profound relationship of food, wine, and family in Italian culture. Growing up in Albany, New York, after emigrating there with his family, he always sat next to his uncle Aldo and sipped from his wineglass during their customary hours-long extended family feasts. Thus, from a very early age, Esposito came to associate wine with the warmth of family, the tastes of his mother's cooking--and, above all, memories of his former life in Italy. When he was in his twenties, he headed for New York and undertook a career in wine, beginning a journey that would culminate in his founding of Italian Wine Merchants, now the leading Italian wine source in America. His career offered him the opportunity to make frequent trips back to Italy to find wine for his clients, to learn the traditions of Italian winemaking, and, in so doing, to rediscover the Italian way of life he'd left behind. Passion on the Vine is Esposito's intimate and evocative memoir of his colorful family life in Italy, his abrupt transition to life in America, and of his travels into the heart of Italy--its wine country--and the lives of those who inhabit it. The result is a remarkably engaging and entertaining wine/travel narrative replete with vivid portraits of seductive places--the world-famous cellars of Piedmont, the sweeping estates of Tuscany, the lush fields of Campania, the chilly hills of Friuli, the windy beaches of Le Marche; and of memorable people, diverse and vibrant wine artisans--from a disco-dancing vintner who bases his farming on the rhythm of the moon to an obsessive prince who destroys his vineyards before his death so that his grapes will never be used incorrectly. Esposito's luscious accounts of the wonderful food and wine that are so much a part of Italian life, and his poignant and often hilarious stories of his relationships with his family and Italian friends, make Passion on the Vine an utterly unique and enchanting work about Italy and its eternally seductive lifestyle.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0767926080
• ISBN13: 9780767926089
• Release Date: May 2009
• Publisher: Crown Publishing Group (NY)
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.1" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

Will make you want to drink Italian wine with breakfast, lunch and dinner every day!!!

This is a FANTASTIC read!!! Anyone that loves good food, good wine, good friends and/or travel must buy this book! I have forced myself to go slow and savor but much like with a great glass of wine that is very hard to do! Everyone on my gift giving list is getting a copy. One of the best books I have read in a very long time to be sure.

Pop the cork and read this book

If you have any interest in wine, food, travel, culture, history, family, and people as I do, then I recommend you read this book - I enjoyed all of it. Basically, it's a memoir of the author's move from Italy to the U.S. as a boy, and how his interest and love of wine and food inspired him to learn more about wine, open an Italian wine store in New York, and through his travels, continue his wine education. He describes his travels throughout Italy in quest of the finest wines produced in that country (and the world) and understanding what motivates and inspires the people who make them. Along the way the reader gets taken for the ride through the beautiful wine making regions of Italy, and introduced to some of the iconic figures (some a bit eccentric) of Italian wine making. The author describes in detail his meetings, conversations, and tastings with these producers, and we get an inside perspective of how some of these icons have passionately and steadfastly respected history, terroir, and nature in crafting memorable wines they believe in. You'll visit their wineries, meet their families and partake in meals the author shared with the wine makers. Together they discuss the importance of food and wine pairing, and how, when done well, enhance each other and represent one of the essential aspects of an enjoyable and elevated quality of life. I imagined myself as a secret participant of the winery cantina visits and mealtime conversations he describes in the book. As a person who appreciates good wine and food, they were absolutely riveting for me as it enabled me to learn more by getting a peek inside the minds of these great wine makers. When you open this book and begin to read, it is much like a bottle of fine wine that develops and evolves over time. It has varying layers of characteristics that enhance your enjoyment, promote thinking, and will stay with you even past the last drop, or the last page.

Instant Classic

Sergio Esposito is a terrific and engaging writer-it is impossible to put this book down! Filled with humorous anecdotes from his numerous trips to Italy,"Passion on the Vine" will become a must read for all lovers of Italian wine, food and culture.

A Fabulous Read About Italian Wine and Culture

While I have come to appreciate Sergio's vast wine knowledge by way of his weekly e-Letters (through Italian Wine Merchants), I was intrigued when I heard about Passion on the Vine. Honest, engaging, personable and humorous, it brought me to a new level of understanding about the patience required to appreciate wine, from its production to its later enjoyment (or at least analysis). A passage that has stayed with me is Sergio's interactions with the late, Bartolo Mascarello, a traditional winemaker from the Piedmont region, known for his Barolos. Sergio relays the events with such respect and fond admiration, as the two take in a half-opened bottle of 1978 Barolo. Waiting for the elder's cues for an approval to taste, Sergio is left waiting far longer than he initially anticipated. However, it is over the duration of this exchange (that is so eloquently narrated and moving) that you are, like Sergio in that moment, anticipating Bartolo's gracious admission for a taste. It is also in this moment that you witness Sergio's growth. Powerful stuff.

Absolutely Wonderful Book!

Passion on the Vine is a wonderful, enjoyable book to read! Sergio Esposito is a marvelous storyteller and his book is an enjoyable journey through his remarkable life. I highly recommend it!