Viking in the Vineyard

Book excerpt: - The memoirs of an extraordinary wine figure, full of his wonderful stories, travels, the wines and the friends - Crucial experiments into vineyards' own wild yeasts, which has impacted winemaking worldwide ever since - Turning failing Bordeaux chateaux into wine powerhouses and restoring the glory of Hungary's great dessert wine, Royal Tokaji - Tributes from key people like Hugh Johnson, Miguel Torres, Peter Sisseck and NK Yong Peter Vinding-Diers is a Danish aristocrat turned roving winemaker who, on escaping his studies at the Sorbonne one summer found himself on Burgundy's Côte de Beaune, suddenly besotted. Peter's first foray into wine took him to the Cape (via a quick turn parachuting into the war-zone in Vietnam), where he learned vineyard ways and wine science. Next came a dazzling decade in Bordeaux, where his pioneering exploits began to catch the world's attention. He then ventured to Bulgaria, Brazil, Spain, Chile and Hungary earning himself the title 'Flying Winemaker' (he was one of the first!). Along his wine journey, Peter has frequently had to call on his Viking ancestors for help - not least in taming his 'Montecarrubo' vineyards on the wilder side of Sicily - but whether by accident or by design (mostly the latter), he has always found himself at the forefront of vinous discovery...