Goodgrog

Book excerpt: Goodgrog: A Life in Wine and Journalism chronicles the life, and especially the career, of journalist John Schreiner, who may have had one of the most enviable jobs ever: wine writer. For over forty years, in newspaper and magazine articles and columns and through nineteen books, Schreiner has entertained and informed Canadian wine drinkers, championed British Columbia wineries, and helped establish the credibility of the Canadian wine industry. His research for this has involved visiting and sampling the wares of wineries across British Columbia, Canada, the US, Europe, South America, Australia, and New Zealand. He has also judged several prestigious wine competitions in Italy and British Columbia. But there is much more to Schreiner’s story than his experience as one of Canada’s leading wine writers. He begins his tale in Indian Head, Saskatchewan, where he was born in the latter years of the Depression. From there, he takes readers along his journey as a journalist at the Regina Leader-Post and finally the Financial Post, where he covered some of Western Canada’s biggest business stories and had the opportunity to travel the world doing economic reports. Filled with anecdotes from both his private and professional life, as well as with stories about the Canadian wine industry and some of British Columbia’s more colourful politicians and business leaders, this book is good to the last drop.