Trying to write an accessible book on wine

The paperback of 'Vines in a Cold Climate' is published today. Here’s something on the book’s genesis.

“My top writing tip is don’t show your writing to anyone. Including your publisher as far as practicable”. 

This was the response of one writer friend when I asked whether he’d take a look at an early draft of my English wine book. Another friend, whose writing I also hugely admire, did agree to take a look but he was not keen. His damning verdict from reading the first chapter was that it was pedestrian with none of the pizazz that he hoped for in my writing.

This got me down for a couple of days but when I had stopped crying and rending my garments, I realised that he had actually been very helpful. It made it clear what sort of book I was trying to write and more importantly what sort I wasn’t. 

In many ways I am an unlikely person to write a book about English wine. My favourite wines are sherry and port. I liked the occasional English sparkler but I didn’t have much interest in the industry. It seemed like a bit of a sideshow.

So when I was approached in 2021 by Derek Wyatt, former MP and rugby international, and editor-at-large for Atlantic books, to do an English wine book I wasn’t particularly enthusiastic. Especially as Oz Clarke had just released a book on the subject. Who wanted to read another book on English wine?

But I was flattered to be asked and gradually began to see a way to make my book different to others on the subject. Make it about the people: English wine is full of larger than life personalities, not all of whom are entirely pleasant. If I could bring that to life, then it might escape from the wine ghetto.

Still it took a long time to get right. At one point I saw it as a history of English wine, from the Romans to Rathfinny. Then I tore all that up and thought I’d make it geographical with a chapter on each main region - this would have been a terrible idea as there’s really no difference between say West Kent and East Sussex. In the end I came up with a sort of past, present and future structure, with the meat of the book being the present and based around certain points of conflict. 

All the time when I was putting the book together, my friend’s criticism was ringing in my ears. Every page had to have something entertaining, scandalous or amusing on it. This resulted in a few tussles with my editor over stuff she thought was irrelevant and interrupted the flow but I thought added colour.

Did it succeed? Well, it’s certainly not perfect. There are great wineries like Black Chalk in Hampshire or Sharpham in Devon who I didn’t even mention. I missed a couple of big stories and there’s quite a lot of mistakes - most of which have, I hope, been corrected for the paperback.

But people seem to like the book. Having it picked by Eric Asimov in the New York Times as one of his books of the year or being described by Jancis Robinson as a ‘tour de force’ was wonderful. And recognition from prizes like the Fortnum & Mason, Andre Simon, Guild of Food Writers, and James Beard also made me feel incredibly important. Best of all, has been having people, both in the business and members of the public with no involvement in wine saying how much they have enjoyed the book. I’ve done a few literary festivals which have been surprisingly well-attended. For a couple of weeks the hardback was briefly the bestselling wine book on Amazon and has sold around 4,000 copies. Not a life changing amount but very respectable for a book about English wine. 

Not everyone has been so positive, however. My writer friend who I quoted at the beginning sent me a detailed email outlining the various missed opportunities and weaknesses in the finished book. All were very valid and I have taken them on board for next time.

Vines in a Cold Climate: The People Behind the English Wine Revolution is published by Allen & Unwin £10.99.