For my birthday, my wife gave me two books about wine: "Palmento", by
Robert Camuto, and "Reading Between the Wines" by Terry Theise.

My wife's family emigrated from Sicily before the war and we try to
visit as often as time and money allow, though never often enough. I
also studied at the University of Vienna in the late '70s and spent
many happy days wandering the Vienna Woods and the Weinviertal (I even
remember drinking RED wine in Rust). If I only knew then what I know
now.

The two books are similar in the sense that they address an emotional
attachment to wine. They certainly made me want to jump on a plane
immediately to scratch my own itch. I prefer "Palmento" -- maybe
it's as simple a matter of the boy from the north dreaming of sunny
climates and earthy Sicilian women. But I also found Camuto a much
more felicitous and personal writer. "Reading Between the Wines" can
drift off into a kind of geeky mysticism that is off-putting to me.
But I would highly recommend either book, perhaps as a stocking
stuffer.

On Nov 14, 1:03*pm, Casey Miller > wrote:
> For my birthday, my wife gave me two books about wine: *"Palmento", by
> Robert Camuto, and "Reading Between the Wines" by Terry Theise. *
>
> *My wife's family emigrated from Sicily before the war and we try to
> visit as often as time and money allow, though never often enough. *I
> also studied at the University of Vienna in the late '70s and spent
> many happy days wandering the Vienna Woods and the Weinviertal (I even
> remember drinking RED wine in Rust). *If I only knew then what I know
> now. *
>
> The two books are similar in the sense that they address an emotional
> attachment to wine. *They certainly made me want to jump on a plane
> immediately to scratch my own itch. * I prefer "Palmento" -- maybe
> it's as simple a matter of the *boy from the north dreaming of sunny
> climates and earthy Sicilian women. *But I also found Camuto a much
> more felicitous and personal writer. *"Reading Between the Wines" can
> drift off into a kind of geeky mysticism that is off-putting to me.
> But I would highly recommend either book, perhaps as a stocking
> stuffer.

Thanks, haven't heard of Palmento before.
I like Terry T's writing (at least in catalogs and on wine boards),
but not sure I'd like a whole book's worth at one sitting.