My mother had a book club that would dissolve into opening wine.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
If I grew up with a dysfunctional family, I would eventually start a book club.
Author tours used to have a sense of excitement and pleasure, a sense of occasion. I remember stores having a table with wine and food. It was just a real evening.
'Dandelion Wine' became one of the few books that I returned to time and again, and while not anywhere near the story crafter as Mr. Bradbury, I hope I managed to absorb by osmosis some of his techniques.
From age 16, I lived and breathed wine. I read every magazine and book about wine.
I have even written a book about Wine called The Grapes of Ralph.
My mother served me wine and water from the time I was 3 years old.
Fairly early in my career, I had a passion for wine just as a consumer, and I started to learn about the whole process, starting with a piece of raw ground, and ending up with a work of art in a bottle.
When I was 17 or 18 I wanted to become a wine expert, and my parents wouldn't let me drink. So I was devastated. All I could do was read, and I read and I read. And I'd read something like, you know, 'Subtle hints of cassis.'
My books are like water; those of the great geniuses are wine. (Fortunately) everybody drinks water.
A bottle of wine begs to be shared; I have never met a miserly wine lover.