Things drunk | Jacques Dupont

In the world of wine, Jacques Dupont is a reference. Strangely, although he is the author of the authoritative guides in the weekly magazine Le Point, he had never written a personal book. "Choses bues" is both the autobiography of an exceptional taster, the humorous and anecdote-rich journey through a often secretive world, the backstage of an economy, and above all, the exercise of admiration of a wanderer in the caves and vineyards of France. Written over many years of tastings and human encounters, this book reveals that wine is not only a matter of taste, and therefore subjectivity, but also the random result of history, civilization, the meeting of human hands and terroir. Do we know that the Médoc, now highly regarded, was once an ungrateful land the color of ash? From Burgundy, of which Stendhal said, "without its admirable wines, I would find nothing in the world more ugly than this famous Côte d'Or," how can we understand the complexity of plots or place names? Do we know that the world-famous Romanée Conti estate derives its glory from a small hectare? Should we trust the arrogant erudition of specialists? Should the wines of Gers be included in the healthcare system for the illnesses they cure? Why does an old Champagne smell like a bread bag? From his childhood in Yonne to hidden Burgundy, from the patrician Bordeaux to the women winemakers of Alsace, from the crisis in Languedoc to the investment boom in vineyards, Jacques Dupont takes us along with him. With emotion, freedom, and the randomness of history, the exceptional nose in the wind.