Thomas Dunne Books
March 2013
On Sale: March 12, 2013
336 pages ISBN: 1250006848 EAN: 9781250006844 Kindle: B008RLTYII Hardcover / e-Book Add to Wish List
In a gorgeous wine valley in northern California, the economic downturn has put a number of dreams on hold. But not so for wine critic Clyde Craven-Jones, a man whose ego nearly surpasses his substantial girth. During a routine tasting in advance of his eponymous publicationβs new issue, he blindly samples a selection of Cabernets. To his confounded delight, he discovers one bottle worthy of his highest score (a 20, on the Craven-Jones-on- Wine scale), an accolade heβs never before awarded. But the bottle has no origin, no one seems to know how it appeared on his doorstepβand that's a problem for a critic whoβs supposed to know everything. An investigation into the mystery Cabernet commences, led by the Clydeβs wife, Claire, and a couple of underdogsβone a determined throw-back to ancient viticulture, the other a wine-stained, Pygmalion-esque scribblerβwho by wit and luck rise on incoming tides of money, notoriety, and, yes, love. The stage is set for this true theater of the varietalsβwhere the reader joins the local vinous glitterati and subterranean enthusiasts hanging out in a seedy bar called the Glass Act. Soon Clyde Craven-Jones finds himself in a compromised position in a fermentation tank, a prominent family finds its internal squabble a public scandal, and a lowly vintner seeks redemption for a decades-old wrongdoing. James Conaway's Nose is a witty, delectable, and fast-paced novel that, like a good Cabernet, only grows truly enjoyable once opened.
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