Eric Arnold’s First Big Crush
Eric Arnold is in love.
Not simply with wine, or New Zealand wines, or the people who grow and create those wines. No, Eric is in love with the whole damn mess of it all.
First Big Crush is a book about a man with a lot of passion, not necessarily a lot of sense, and a whole year to give in to his obsession in hot pursuit of experience and a love affair that he will certainly never forget. And as love has proved since time began, romance is pretty much out the window from the beginning. Then the real work begins.
Incidents, accidents, chaos, and fatigue ensue as Eric recounts his year in Marlborough working for Allan Scott Winery. And for anyone interested in getting the dirt on the wine industry - from vineyard to bottling, marketing to getting the wines on the shelf – or anyone with a budding taste for New Zealand wines - this is the book to get you started.
It has to be said, this is no Liebling writing between meals, and Eric’s background as a stand-up comic gets in the way of his prose from time to time. Unnecessary wisecracks abound. By the time the art of pruning – extremely grueling and difficult work – was compared to Bobby Brown, Whitney Houston, and a bitch slap, I was ready to toss the book away out of sheer impatience.
But I found myself able to forgive his one-too-many asides as Eric’s is an honest passion. And with a warm conversational manner and down-to-earth voice, Eric holds court and gets all the crucial information packed in in this swift and entertaining read. From the unforeseen to the sheer grit and day-to-day headaches that make up the wine industry, Eric does a thorough job at getting across the mighty pains people go through just to get the grape to the table.
First Big Crush certainly alludes to one’s ideals of a first great love as much as to one’s experience of having that ideal crushed – again and again. And this book comes at a good time as New Zealand wines are becoming more and more popular – Marlborough wines in particular. I tried several of the wines mentioned while reading the book, and, like Eric, I found myself falling in love with the spirit of the Kiwis as well as the spirits they create.
And what’s love got to do with it? Apparently, everything.
First Big Crush: The Down and Dirty About Making Great Wine Down Under
Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group
September 2007
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[...] First Big Crush is a book about a man with a lot of passion, not necessarily a lot of sense, and a whole year to give in to his obsession in hot pursuit of experience and a love affair that he will certainly never forget. Read more [...]
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[...] Specifically, we wanted to turn him on to the idea of participating in a Smackdown against Keith. After all, he is a very respected editor at the Wine Spectator and the author of the wonderful book First Big Crush. [...]