I Learned It Through the Grapevine: Wine, Wisdom… Book Review

I’m no wine professional, just someone learning about wine and sharing my experiences here and on my social media. I am a WSET 2 student who may go on to WSET 3, so I read about wine a lot. I should probably create a wine book category here on the blog, because I have a growing collection of wine education books, including this one I’m talking about today: I Learned It Through the Grapevine: Wine, Wisdom, and the Art of a Well-Lived Life, by Lauren Brynjelsen, my first official book review here on Wine and Travel with Donna!

Whether you’re new to wine, continuously growing your knowledge, or an experienced pro in the industry, this book is a great addition to your collection. Thanks to the media team, I have my own copy and I’ve really enjoyed reading it.

If you love to learn more about how to make wine, while learning more about your own approach to life, this is the book for you. It’s the perfect blend of life epistemology and the enjoyment of wine. Hardcover, this book comes in at 222 pages full of uncluttered pages, engaging graphics, and colorful photography. It’s an appealing book to sit and page through or dive into…with a glass of wine in hand, of course.

My Book Review of I Learned It Through the Grapevine: Wine, Wisdom, and the Art of a Well-Lived Life, by Lauren Brynjelsen

I went through the book primarily on a rare rainy day here in southern California. I lit a candle, poured a glass of crisp Sauvignon Blanc, and grabbed a throw. Fall simulation at its finest. I quickly found myself pulled into the approach Lauren designed when creating the book. It’s broken down into three topical sections — The Vineyard, Seasons of the Vineyard, and From Grapes to Wine — with each section including four detailed chapters on sub-topics.

Sub-topics break down foundational viticulture concepts into granular levels, such as climate, soil, terrain, and planting, or varietals, winemakers, aged wines, and producers. The seasons section is exactly what it sounds like: four chapters, one for each season.

The book is designed for both individual readers or group book clubs. I particularly like the engaging quote that prefaces each chapter, and then the “I Learned It Through the Grapevine” second half of each chapter, which is where the process of winemaking and personal growth form a fascinating symbiosis, showing how the vineyard directly correlates to our real lives.

Lauren takes a topic such as choosing the perfect piece of property for your vineyard, and applies it to our lives, such as “Your Personality Terroir.” We’ve all heard the phrase “Bloom where you’re planted,” meaning we are a product of our environment, but sometimes we need to be planted elsewhere. We need to take a different approach, becoming self-aware to find our strengths and our weaknesses.

A Book Club Choice or Individual Enlightenment

This is where the book becomes a spectacular choice for a book club, or a group of wine lovers, to become vulnerable or get to know each other better. Each “I Learned It…” portion includes thought-provoking questions designed to get people talking and reflecting internally. Am I an introvert or extrovert? Thinker or feeler? Detail-oriented or big picture? And planner or improviser?

The questions not only inspire thoughtful conversations, but if honestly applied to our daily lives, we can learn more about ourselves and make some tweaks to help us reach a goal more easily, or to be happier with where we’re already at.

Terrain shapes the finished bottle of wine, and it also shapes who we are as people.

Another really fun part of this wine book is the Tasting Room portions. Each allows you to travel vicariously through a well-known winery’s history, paired with tasting notes of a particular wine. You are given a set of Wine Chat questions and a small piece of homework to take along with you, such as writing a kind note to someone who inspired you on your journey. (We all have a few of those people, right?)

The wine community in social media has been fun and I’ve met a lot of great people, both in DMs and many subsequently at wine events. One thing many of us have discussed is that someone, somewhere along the way, comments about how drinking is unnecessary or bad for you.

We get what their intention is — usually — but sometimes we do have to remind them that while we’re learning about wine, drinking it, tasting, etc., we aren’t necessarily drinking a lot of wine. We still do spit out a lot, especially if we’re at a longer tasting. (I mean, drinking responsibly is always of paramount importance.) Health is still a focus, and I love that the book touches on self-care and properly fueling the body. There’s even a “Physical Care Checklist” to help remind us of some primary joys in life that are good for us, such as cooking at home more than eating our, and staying on top of our physical exams.

Important to Note: just because someone posts daily pictures on their Instagram showing wine or depicting them in a wine setting or drinking wine does not mean they’re drinking daily. Just like everyone else, we tend to save photos and parse them out. Social media highlights often capture a moment of ephemerality, which can make it look like we spend far more time in a wine setting than we actually do!

Wine is an experience, not just an object. As the book highlights, grapes undergo a profound metamorphosis from vine to bottle. We, too, undergo our own transformation as we age. While age can make wine better, society often refers to aging people in a negative manner. This is not only inaccurate, but it does a disservice to growth, evolution, and the whole life process. Change is normal, expected, and good. We have to be kinder to others, and to ourselves.

Which season of life are you in? How are you showing up for yourself? How do you need to show up for yourself, but aren’t? Are you growing? These are things the book will help you realize, alongside developing knowledge about growing grapes, creating the right environment, making them into something more than ‘just’ a grape, and choosing which type of wine, and why.

Let’s talk about making wine. As someone who has only grown vines but never made wine, I honestly don’t know all the steps beyond the basics. This book balances technical detail with total approachability, breaking down winemaking so anyone can understand. You’ll also develop a new appreciation for a winemaker after you see all the skills it takes to successfully create and bottle wine for the masses.

And grape harvesting, as any wine student can tell you, isn’t just a matter of timing. You’ll need to consider the grape’s structural balance — evaluating sugar, acidity, and tannin levels, and their touch, feel, and look. There’s an art to the process, not just a science. Harvesting and pruning are even explained, with handy drawings.

Viticulture from Start to Finish

This book a quick study on vine to glass, making it a wonderful gift to someone who wants to understand wine more. You can find it on Amazon and other online sites as of September, and it’s also available on Kindle. You can follow Lauren on Instagram at @LaurenBWrites. I Learned It Through the Grapevine is a quality book that easily lays flat and stays open, so you can sip and read without needing a third hand.

Grab a glass of your favorite wine and start reading! I recommend reading from front to back, but there is a clear format and TOC if you’re in need of a specific answer or want to study a certain topic with your wine book club. (And if you have a wine book club, I’d love to hear about it! I haven’t gone to a book club in over a decade, but this book made me want to consider starting one.) Thanks to Lauren for writing a cohesive book that nurtures both our wine curiosity and our personal growth. That’s a match you don’t see often, and you’ve nailed the blend!

Thanks for reading my first official book review here on the site! I also write about lifestyle, do a random book review, and chat about food and travel professionally, but on another site. This is devoted solely to wine-related and travel topics. Writing is a passion that also pays the bills, and as I learn more about wine, I hope to continue to get more in-depth on relevant topics. This journey so far has been incredible, and I can’t wait to see where it takes me!