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First Big Crush: The Down and Dirty on Making Great Wine Down Under

First Big Crush: The Down and Dirty on Making Great Wine Down Under

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Author: Eric Arnold
Publisher: Scribner
Category: Book

List Price: $24.00
Buy New: $4.90
You Save: $19.10 (80%)



New (35) Used (27) from $0.50

Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars 11 reviews
Sales Rank: 172770

Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 272
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.1

ISBN: 1416537694
Dewey Decimal Number: 663.200993
EAN: 9781416537694
ASIN: 1416537694

Publication Date: September 18, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days

Also Available In:

  • Kindle Edition - First Big Crush

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Editorial Reviews:

Product Description
The story behind the bottle, First Big Crush is Eric Arnold's wild account of his year immersing himself in all things wine...and somehow not winding up in rehab.

Never having held a meaningful job for very long (and getting fired from most of them), Eric Arnold heads to New Zealand -- to Allan Scott Wines -- seeking adventure and hoping to learn a little bit about wine. What could be better than working outside in the fresh air and drinking wine all day? Before he knows it, he is dirty, wet, cold, and at the mercy of a tank of wine that just might explode and take him with it. So begin Eric's adventures in the world of wine. He gets sunburned, sore, and drunk -- and then does it all over again the next day.

First Big Crush is a story that is as outrageous as it is compelling. Here are tales of first pressings, pruning, and tasting competitions. There are also rowdy nights at the local pub, girls, meat pies, girls, rugby, and tales of hunting wild pig. Along the way, each step of the winemaking process is explained in a way that humans can actually understand. Almost against his will, Eric becomes an expert.




Customer Reviews:   Read 6 more reviews...

4 out of 5 stars Plow through the puerile...it's enlightening   March 24, 2008
 1 out of 1 found this review helpful

The author's unrelenting use of tacky sexual simile might be difficult to deal with if the overall content of the book wasn't quite so interesting...his 'hands dirty' insight to this small piece of the wine making business is compelling, though, and I found myself ignoring his hormonal excess. This is one that I'll read again.


2 out of 5 stars immature, forced and generally just embarassing   December 22, 2007
 5 out of 9 found this review helpful

you know when you're with a group of people, and one person is just trying way too hard to be entertaining and you just feel embarassed for him? this is how eric arnold comes off in this book.

look, i'm all for a fun wine read. the last thing we need is another dry 'how to' wine guide or buttoned up encyclopedia. and i'm certianly no prude when it comes to off color humor or language. but within the first 30 pages of this book, arnold uses more bad sexual one liners than i can count on all my fingers and toes, and has used the F word at least twice as much. all well and good, if it worked. but the jokes are lame, they don't land, and you just feel like the author is a teenager trying to show the older kids how cool he is.

i wanted to like this book. i loved the accidental connoisseur by lawrence osborne, and thought this sounded like it too could provide an interesting, informative, yet informal and light hearted look at a wine experience. unfortunately any hope for this is destroyed by the author's juvenile, labored writing. skip this one.



5 out of 5 stars Outstanding book   December 13, 2007
You will really enjoy this book. An inside look, very humorous and entertaining as well as informative.


4 out of 5 stars A Grape Read   November 25, 2007
 1 out of 1 found this review helpful

Eric Arnold took a subject that could have been as dry and pompous as a California Chardonnay and actually made me want to read about it. Of course, I didn't retain all the information because I took his advice and read some of the chapters while drinking wine. I learned more than I really wanted to know about some aspects of the author's personal life, but that's part of what makes the book accessible for those who would rather drink wine than obsess about it.


5 out of 5 stars A Rare Book   November 12, 2007
 1 out of 1 found this review helpful

Anyone who thinks that wine books are pompous or boring has a pleasant surprise in store. This book is delightfully funny. Yes, there is a funny side to wine when Eric Arnold is in control. But it's not just funny; it's also informative. I am a huge fan of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc and have even visited there. Nonetheless I learned a lot about the Kiwis and their approach to wine from the book. That is making my enjoyment of their wine even stronger. From screwcaps to terroir the book covers it all with a crisp freshness that is as enjoyable as one of those New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs.

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