The World of Natural Wine

My 440-page natural wine book has a release date: Sept. 27th. Pre-order now for a bonus gift ! Or prepare pitchforks and torches. As you prefer.

Aaron Ayscough

Jul 14, 2022

Longtime readers may be aware I’ve been working on a wine book for quite some time. The process began in 2015, when I left a comfortable job in Paris and moved to the Beaujolais for a few seasons. Only in 2019 did I sign with a publisher - Artisan Books - after expanding my book’s purview to encompass the whole unruly subject of natural wine at large.

Thus commenced three years of traveling France and Europe at a breakneck pace, tracking down the foundations of natural wine culture. My girlfriend Jade Quintin provided much of the photography. Our dog Spoon provided moral support. Together, we completely blew through my advance, inspiring the creation of this Substack.

The finished, 440-page book is called The World of Natural Wine: What It Is, Who Makes It, and Why It Matters. It will be published worldwide on September 27th, and it’s available for preorder now. A few preview pages can be found here.

ABOUT THE BOOK

The World of Natural Wine comprises:

A introductory chapter summarizing an empirical framework for natural wine, and explaining the origins of the natural wine community in Paris and the Beaujolais in the mid-1980s.
A chapter about what we mean when we talk about natural viticulture.
A chapter about what we mean when we talk about natural vinification.
Twelve chapters dedicated to the distinct natural wine cultures of the various regions of France. In these chapters I trace the influence of successive waves of vignerons within the French natural wine community.
One chapter devoted to bird’s-eye overviews of natural wine communities that have arisen in other nations of Europe and the Caucasus. (Each of which, by now, deserves its own book.)
A chapter about how to taste natural wine.
A chapter about how to serve natural wine.
A chapter about where to find natural wine.
An extensive, but by no means exhaustive, index of natural wine purveyors in various Anglophone markets.

How does all that sound ? The text is accompanied throughout by exciting color photographs. The embossed cover paper has an appealing cloth texture.

Pre-Order with Amazon

Pre-Order with Book Depository

WHY PRE-ORDER ?

Because I’ll be forever grateful ! And because preorders give bookstores proof that their customers will be asking for it when it’s officially on sale this fall. That helps them determine which books to promote during the holidays. So pre-orders provide a crucial initial boost to a book, allowing it to take on its own momentum.

As a bonus gift, readers who pre-order The World of Natural Wine by August 31st will receive a free six-month paid subscription to the NOT DRINKING POISON newsletter. If you’re already a paid subscriber, you can gift a free six-month paid subscription to a fellow wine lover of your choice.

Just email me proof of pre-order (pic or screengrab is fine) and note the email address to which you’d like to send the gift subscription.

WHERE TO FIND THE BOOK

You can pre-order it from Amazon no matter where in the world you find yourself. It’s also available for pre-order at Waterstones (UK), Indigo (Canada), and Book Depository (Europe, Australia, New Zealand, anywhere else!). In the US, you can pre-order it from Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, and many independent bookstores.

If you have a favorite independent bookstore that offers pre-order purchase of The World of Natural Wine on its website, please leave its name in the comments to this post!

WHOLESALE INQUIRIES

If you have a wine shop, wine bar, or restaurant (or a boutique of any kind) and would like to stock copies of The World of Natural Wine in your establishment, well, that would be just swell.

Just drop me a line, and I’ll thank you profusely and put you in touch with the relevant contact at Artisan Books. (It doesn’t matter if your establishment is based outside the USA - we’ll make it happen!)

A THOUSAND THANKS

Many thanks for reading, as always. I can’t overstate how keen I am to get The World of Natural Wine out into the world! And to hear everyone’s feedback.

Aaron

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