Bacchus & Me? Or should that be Bacchus and I? Anyway, Jay McInerney, he of the blockbuster 1984 novel, Bright Lights, Big City, provides readers with a collection of his wine columns from House & Garden magazine. Subject areas include, white wines, sparkling wines, reds, dessert wines, big names in the wine world (e.g., Mondavi), and

a grab-bag section on hosting, pairing wine and food and such.

Mr. McInerney is to be commended for bringing levity to the subject of wine. Though not the first to do so, he plays an important role in overthrowing the tyranny of wine snobbery, a custom and ideology established long ago in America, which holds that wine is for the wealthy and refined- a notion that is patently ludicrous and contradicted by the very history of wine in America and about the world. Constrained by space (his essays appear to top off at 2000 words,) McInerney is often able to tell readers a great deal in a hurry- witness his chapters on Brunello, Loire wines, and his "Ticket to Veneto." This is good wine writing- crisp, informative, and fun. It's like getting a crash course from a pro.

Unfortunately, though, a number of the chapters are not particularly informative, nor do the narratives entertain the reader by whisking him off to a foreign land or introducing him to fascinating people. Too often his essays read like a quick retrospective ramble over recent wines he quaffed, offering little information on the wines or what made them so attractive. The closing column, "Millenium," is particularly egregious, being a dash through all the wines that McInerney and friends imbibed at a series of dinners. To put things harshly- who cares?

Also troublesome is that McInerney's prose often slips into what can be only described as 1980s California bonehead talk. McInerney is no bonehead, so why drop in phrases such as , "'nuff said," "Like, totally..." and "Like, big yawn, dude," ? Maybe this appeals to a certain slice of the population, but its a turn off to anyone who reads anything more challenging than Cigar Afficionado and the sports page.

And Mr. McInerney should be more cautious in his metaphorical descriptions of wine. Telling us that "[i]f Chardonnay is the Coke of the white wine universe, then Sauvignon Blanc ranks somewhere between Pepsi and RC Cola," is not very helpful, as he does not explain why this is the case. If he wants to say that Chardonnay outsells Sauvignon Blanc, then give us the damn sales figures.

Similarly, what to do with bits like, "[t]he first sip of the '94 is apt to shake and rattle you to your socks-like the first time you heard rock and roll really loud. 'Jumpin' Jack Flash' comes to mind. Or maybe 'Let's Spend the Night Together'...Martinello's '94 Jackass Hill Vineyard is, on the other hand, more 'Layla' or 'Free Bird' than 'Jumpin' Jack'". This doesn't really cast much light on the subject and will prove meaningless to anyone who doesn't care for rock and roll and will probably make little sense to anyone under the age of thirty.

McInerney is a bright guy, and he has learned a great deal about wine. The trick, now, is to convince him to share it with us more often. Instruction can be entertaining, but vice versa? Seldom. -Charles Westbrook