I've been reading ClarkSmith's PostModern Winemaking book over the last month. The Part 1: Principles is a pretty tough slog for some doofus whose education never went beyond that of a simple little ole country computational physicist.
Last night, I started the Part 4: Philosophy section w/ his Spoofulated or Artisanal chapter. Good grief..this subject has been beaten to death by all the bloggers in the wine blogosphere. What more could be said about it?? Well...it turns out a lot more. Clark does a very good job of framing the discussion w/o the vitriol that the discussion usually raises and than goes on to offer up some viewpoints that are rather original & insightful. The friggin' chapter was so well written that I had to go back and reread it a second time to make sure I didn't miss a point. Didn't shut off the light until 1:00am. I hate it when authors offer up such compelling reads that it cuts into my beauty rest.
The book is a fabulous read. What surprises me is that it has not elicited much intelligent conversation from the usual suspects in the wine blogosphere (haven't read JamieGoode's comments yet, if they are there). For the casual wine geek w/o a heavy-duty chemistry background, I would suggest you start w/ Part 4, than Part 2: Practices. Take on Part 1 only if you're a glutton for punishment.
Tom