A Good Year

I read - alot - mostly novels - and it is interesting how much food and wine factor into many of them.

I recently enjoyed A Good Year by Peter Mayle.  It is a very light, fun summer read about a British banker, Max Skinner, who inherits a house and vineyard in France the very same day he loses his unsatisfactory, stressful job in a London bank.  So off Max goes to a storybook town in Provence.   He is welcomed by the colorful locals and experiences the many of adventures of (very old) home ownership that you have read about before in books like Under the Tuscan Sun. Add a little romance and ever so mild intrigue about the mislabeling of some of his vineyard's wine, and you have a very enjoyable, if a little silly, story.  Throughout, Mayle offers lovely descriptions of the countryside and mouthwatering accounts of the scrumptious food and wine.

The book was apparently made into a movie in 2006, which I have not seen, but my edition of the book featured the very handsome Russell Crowe on the cover.  The Max Skinner character does not require the Russell Crowe of Gladiator or A Beautiful Mind: Crowe's good looks and winning smile could carry the day.