The sun sets over the Parthenon

Never before have so many aspired to explore vineyards and devote their writings to the enchanting topic of wine. And yet, this profession—or should one call it a calling?—finds itself in a troubling predicament. It seems it always has. As wine publications wrestle with declining revenues and large digital platforms squeeze their visibility and traffic, the splintering of authoritative voices persists. What follows is a diminishing pool of invested readers. With the shadow of Artificial Intelligence growing more formidable, elevating quality has become essential for enduring.

The circumstances prompt us to contemplate perhaps an overly lavish engagement with early 20th century British travel literature. To dwell on the eloquent expressions of well-educated men, who wrote comfortably about the masterpieces of antiquity, seems almost too luxurious amidst the constant hum of notifications, emails, and the imperative to sustain content and manage finances.

However, this situation offers a marvelous chance for wandering into the more scholarly and polished works within this literary field. Often these writings recount benign, bumbling journeys, brimming with a charisma that renders the prose timeless. Therefore, categorizing my venture as both research and brief diversion, I turned to Robert Bryon’s esteemed Road to Oxiana.

Published in 1937, it charts his journey through the Levant and across the Middle East. Byron’s self deprecating tone will inevitably strike a more pertinent chord with the British reader, but it is universally acknowledged a masterpiece for its balance of witty memoir and poignant observation. Sensual prose bring exotic scenes to life, capturing the essence of people and place.

The author’s primary interest lies in the great monuments of Islam, but his deep knowledge is administered carefully, diluted with engaging journal entries that document the trials and tribulations of a colorful and unpredictable journey. Clearly, he is well versed in his field and able to braid scholarly comment, but it remains a backdrop, and a device for maintaining order lest his more comedic characters infringe on the intended atmosphere. For Byron, architecture (we may read wine) is a reason for travel, but it is certainly not the story.

Henry Vollam Morton is another outstanding travel writer of a bygone era, despite suggestions of appalling character. Over the last few days I’ve found it difficult to put down A Traveller in Southern Italy (1969). Although less poetic, the format is similar. Enthralment with the lives of the Saints provides motivation for his expedition, but his writing draws from the well of knowledge modestly – skillfully aware of the importance of peeling back the curtain and standing clear.

Inevitably, the subject of wine provides rich material for the writer and there are many enclaves in which to develop a specialism. For me, the most alluring wine writing, and the most age-worthy, provokes and evokes in a way that the best travel writing does. It connects on an emotional level and makes one long for experience. Put simply, the best books about wine are often not really about wine – at least, not entirely.

Paul Theroux, the great American writer noted that, “travel writing begins in journalism, slides into fiction, and ends in autobiography”. When I think back to those bright and elegant columns by Hugh Hohnson or Michael Broadbent, I am reminded of a note by Hemingway. “If a writer knows enough about what he is writing about, he may omit things that he knows. The dignity of movement of an iceberg is due to only one ninth of it being above water.”

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