Leith may not have the fine instinct for structuring a sentence that he has for producing a well-balanced wine, but he has a nose for a good story. He mines his memory for entertaining and often hilarious tales: his early escapades with an Ariel motorcycle and a 1924 Alvis car; his first overseas trip, to Italy, where he studied Italian and fell in love with wine; and the vivid characters of his family, friends, and dogs. Leith expresses extremes of joy and grief with honesty and conviction. After nine chapters of memoir, a tenth chapter addresses the art of winemaking, with specific details of Passing Clouds prize-winning vintages, which will satisfy wine lovers. From there, the story diverts into two winery diaries, a chapter on winery dogs, and a glossary of terms.

This passionate memoir by an Australian countryman, who generously shares his winemaking knowledge with the world, is let down by a lack of structural editing. Both the winery diaries, and the subheadings within each chapter, are superfluous. The book’s blurb makes much of the murder of Leith’s daughter in1984 and his earlier connection with the Pram Factory (1969–70), but these are minor aspects of the memoir. What is extraordinary is the story of a self-made man who rises to every challenge to make something of excellence: in this case, wine.