Libation a Bitter Alchemy Book Review by ChristineMM

Title: Libation: A Bitter Alchemy
Author: Deirdre Heekin
Publication: Chelsea Green Publishing; 1 edition (June 2, 2009)
ISBN: 978-1603580861
Full retail price: $25.00 (hardcover)

My Rating: 5 stars out of 5 = I Love It

Summary Statement: Lovely Writing, Rich Language, Almost Poetic; Should Be Savored Just Like Excellent Food and Drink



This is a memoir, not a nonfiction book. This is my first exposure to Deirdre Heekin and her writing and I feel that I’ve discovered a treasure. This is masterful storytelling with rich language. Heekin’s writing deserves to be savored just like the drink and foods she tells stories about in this book.

After getting married Heekin and her new groom went to Italy to research Italian cooking, baking, and wine. That trip began a journey of discovery about wine and alcoholic drinks. To say they enjoy good food is an understatement. Later they opened a bakery in Vermont and later, a full service restaurant serving local and seasonal foods with a focus on quality ingredients. Their latest endeavor is growing their own grapes and making small batches of wine.


The chapters are an interesting blend of an essay telling about one topic, a certain wine or a liquor.

She tells her experience learning about it (which educates the reader in the process) and usually how that topic relates to their current restaurant business. After that there is a story about the journey diving into grape growing and winemaking.

I find this book to be a read that I don't want to rush through. Like good wine and great food, it deserves to be savored. Heekin is brilliant with her prose. To fly through her writing would be a shame, a loss for the reader. I enjoyed reading it one chapter at a time before bed after my sons were asleep and after my husband had shut the television off. I wanted to read this book slowly and really pay attention to the story and the prose, to savor it.

Heekin reminds me a bit of Martha Stewart in that she seeks the best and then learns all about it, enjoying the learning process all the while. She wants quality not quantity. Heekin does not come off as a know-it-all but rather a person with deep curiosities who goes on to satisfy them in the spirit of a true autodidact. I enjoyed hearing how she put what she learned into practice in her real life.

I am not a big wine drinker but I enjoy slow food and can relate to wanting food and drink that is wholesome, real and fresh. I see this as a book about slow food (and drink) and that is why I was interested in reading this book. I also have an appreciation for the art and skilled craft of winemaking having visited some wineries in Napa and Sonoma Valley while on my honeymoon. I had somehow wrongly assumed this book was more about information, more of a nonfiction book. The pleasant surprise for me with this book was Heekin’s excellent writing and her almost poetic writing style. This seems perfect for reading under a blanket by a roaring fire with a cup of your favorite hot beverage in the winter.

I see that Heekin has co-authored a book with her husband Caleb Barber about Italian slow food, "In Late Winter We Ate Pears: A Year of Hunger and Love". I’m putting that on my “to be read” list.



Disclosure: I received a review copy of this book from the Amazon Vine product review program, part of Amazon.com. I am prohibited from giving away or reselling this book per my Amazon Vine agreement. The book's full retail value is $25.00. I received no payment for mentioning or reviewing this book on my blog or anywhere else.

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