Families of the Vine
By Michael S. Sanders

In Families of the Vine: Seasons Among the Winemakers of Southwest France, Michael Sanders spends two years, season-by-season, with small French winemakers, and in their vineyards in Cahors, tracing the journey of grapes from vine to glass.

 It’s a revealing, intimate look at the hard work, struggles, history and traditions of the people who grow the grapes and make the wine. The families in that Saunders spends time with are all well-established, genuine and enthusiastic winemakers who share their lives with him.

 Sanders does take us from grape to glass, but along the way, experiences the trials and tribulations of weather – a heat wave and severe drought in this instance, the crazy, mad rush of harvest, fermentation, aging, bottling, the works.

Anyone with a serious interest in wine and how it comes to be will enjoy the various steps of the process as experienced by these small family winemakers. A very human tale in played out as we learn about terroir, about yeast, and today’s technology versus old methods. Sanders spends time with a barrel maker and learns about toast and oak and how it affects a wine. In regular restaurant sojourns, sommeliers offer sage advice and flay old fears, and in so doing add layers to the enjoyment of wine drinking.

 Families of the Vine is a very human tale and an excellent read. Sanders closes the book with a useful section on what to taste and where, websites, and accommodation recommendations.

Reviewed by Judith Lane, wine and food writer