As a literati that recently moved to an up and coming wine country, I was both very excited and just a tad nervous. You see, I am a beer drinker. A malty stout, a crisp and fruity hefeweizen, a mouth puckering IPA, these are my nomenclature. I have read about them, brewed them, and of course, drank them in large quantities. Wine though, not so much. So naturally, in the past year, I have embarked on some research.
Slowly but surely, my wife and I have been making our way around Leelanau county's plethora of vineyards and I have enjoyed nearly every experience. However, despite countless descriptions and tastings of this or that variety, something was still missing. What I needed, was a book. Then I found "The Initiates" by Etienne Davodeau. Now, "The Initiates" is not a guide to how to drink and taste wine. Far from it in fact. Instead, Davodeau's marvelous work is a graphic novel both depicting and describing a cross initiation of sorts. More precisely, Davodeau, who is an award winning graphic novelist that lives in the Loire Valley of France home to the Coteaux du Layon vineyards, spent one year making organic, biodynamic wine with his vintner neighbor. In return, this neighbor, Richard, spent a year learning how to produce a graphic novel. While this doesn't sound like the education in wine I was craving, trust me, it is that and more.
With 265 pages of muted but breath-taking black and white illustrations and dialogue, Davodeau manages to not only thoroughly depict much of the process of making small batches of wine, but he also provides a look into the process of graphic novel creation and publication and the cultures and communities both exist within.
Yet where Davodeau truly shines, is his examination of craft. For both Davodeau and Richard are not only well known and respected within their trades, but both are also meticulous experts that pore their souls into what they do. It is the conveyance of exactly this depth through small moments and snatches of conversation amongst the display of both professions day-in-day-out tasks that makes "The Initiates" a spellbinding work that will capture any that takes the time to pick it up.
