First Big Crush: The Down and Dirty on Making Great Wine Down Under

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Simon and Schuster, Sep 18, 2007 - Cooking - 272 pages
The story behind the bottle, First Big Crush is Eric Arnold's wild account of his year immersing himself in all things wine...and somehow not winding up in rehab.

Never having held a meaningful job for very long (and getting fired from most of them), Eric Arnold heads to New Zealand -- to Allan Scott Wines -- seeking adventure and hoping to learn a little bit about wine. What could be better than working outside in the fresh air and drinking wine all day? Before he knows it, he is dirty, wet, cold, and at the mercy of a tank of wine that just might explode and take him with it. So begin Eric's adventures in the world of wine. He gets sunburned, sore, and drunk -- and then does it all over again the next day.

First Big Crush is a story that is as outrageous as it is compelling. Here are tales of first pressings, pruning, and tasting competitions. There are also rowdy nights at the local pub, girls, meat pies, girls, rugby, and tales of hunting wild pig. Along the way, each step of the winemaking process is explained in a way that humans can actually understand. Almost against his will, Eric becomes an expert.
 

Selected pages

Contents

A Family Affair
3
The Crush
15
A Rough Start
27
The Big One a Bloated Wine Critic and Battle Scars
33
Learning the Ropes
42
Its a Dirty Job but
48
Patience Young Winemaker
56
Day of Minor Disasters
64
Blending Day
120
Seriously Screwed
132
Trade Secrets
141
And the Winner Is No One
148
Juice Guys and Meat Pies
163
Hard to Find Good Help These Days
175
The Vineyard
186
Clean and Green or Down and Dirty?
197

High Tensions and Unexpected Relief
70
The Respected and Admired
78
Much Ado About The Big One
88
Fresh Pork Beer and Sex
95
From Tanks and Barrels to Bottles
106
Grower Pains
207
Labor Pains
214
Starting All Over Again
226
Epilogue
235
Glossary
241

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About the author (2007)

Eric Arnold has been an awful stand-up comedian whose only measure
of success was selling a joke to Jay Leno for $50. He has been an
editor at Wine Spectator and lives in Brooklyn, New York.

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