With all the new books that have come out in 2012, I wanted to take a look down memory lane and remind us all of the books of Christmases past. This is a trio of wine books that are about the stories than they are about facts, numbers, and data. They are books that will make you fall a little bit more in love with wine, and that’s important. You’ll always have time to learn about the next new wine region or that grape you just can’t pronounce, but snuggling up by the fire over the holidays calls for a good story.

At the top of the list is Kermit Lynch’s Adventures on the Wine Route: A Wine Buyer’s Tour of France. This “recounting of his experiences on the wine route and in the wine cellars of France through the Loire, Bordeaux, the Languedoc, Provence, Northern and Southern Rhone, and the Cote d’Or” is inspiring and returns my faith in vino-sapiens (as Cuvee Corner’s Bill Eye calls use). This is a delightful read that I can go back to year after year, and perfect for any wine lover.

This is a book I’m reading right now, Wine and War: The French, the Nazis, and the Battle for France’s Greatest Treasure. A great narrative and insight into a monumental piece of micro-history in French winemaking. More for the history buffs among us.

Reflections of a Wine Merchant rounds out this trio. In it, Neal Rosenthal (the wine merchant the title suggests) tells stories about his travels through the cellars, vineyards, and homes of French vignerons. Though it lacks the emotional resonance of Lynch’s book, I found it thoroughly pulled me in.

These books have brought boat loads of joy and cheer to dreary commutes and quiet days in between the sips and swirls that mark our wine lives, and I hope you will enjoy them too. Wishing you all happy holidays!