The Road to Burgundy

The Unlikely Story of an American Making Wine and a New Life in France

By: Ray Walker

Narrated by: Sean Crisden

Length: 7 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

Ray Walker had a secure career in finance until a wine-tasting vacation ignited a passion that he couldn't stifle. Ray neglected his work, spending hours poring over ancient French winemaking texts, learning the techniques and the language, and daydreaming about vineyards. After Ray experienced his first taste of wine from Burgundy, he could wait no longer. He quit his job and went to France to start a winery - with little money, a limited command of French, and virtually no winemaking experience.

Fueled by determination and joie de vivre, he immersed himself in the extraordinary history of Burgundy's vineyards and began honing his skills. Ray became a pioneer in his use of ancient techniques in modern times and founded Maison Ilan. In 2009, Ray became the first non-French winemaker to purchase grapes and produce a wine from Le Chambertin, long considered to be one of the most revered and singular vineyards in the world.

Along with his struggle to capture his wine's distinct terroir, Ray shares enthralling stories of late-night tastings, flying down the Route National on a vintage Peugeot bicycle with no brakes, and his journey to secure both the trust of his insular Burgundian neighbors and the region's most coveted grapes. Capturing the sunlight, the smell of the damp soil, and the taste of superlative wine, The Road to Burgundy is a glorious celebration of finding one's true path in life, and taking a chance - whatever the odds.

©2013 Ray Walker (P)2013 Tantor

very entertaining

loved it. if you want to start a winery, listen to this. the story is inspiring.

Great Listen!

It's funny, I got this recommendation just as my family and I moved from a city to a rural town to ranch. So much that happens mirrors our own story that, one point, I could replace the words "grapes" and "wine" with "cattle" and "beef" and heard our own story being told! This was my sort of book that encourages, empowers, and reminds me to keep on keepin' on. Thank you! Oh, and I LOVE wine.
Great reading and very good regional French.

Not a wine guy. Loved this book

Im not a wine guy as stated. I bought the book because I like travel. I thought I would learn about the area and some about wine. Well the Road to Burgundy surpassed all expectations. It was beautifully read and written. Surprisingly I had trouble putting it down. Don’t be afraid to get it if you don’t know much about wine which you will learn about but if you’re a believer in magical dream get the book I just loved this book. AR

Escape the Chaos

Take a trip and learn how to make wine. Great escape how a finance fellow leaves SF, to go to Burgundy.

very enjoyable

Any additional comments?

I enjoyed this memoir of a guy who had a dream and followed that dream. He immersed himself in wine making and made his dream happen and he appears to have been fully supported by his wife. Not many of us would dare to give up a job, move to another country and culture and become an expert and success in a field we previously really knew nothing about. And not many partners would hold down the home fort an ocean away. Plus it was educational and well narrated.

Winer Lover's Favorite

Love it! Highly recommended for wine lovers. I enjoyed every second listening to this book. I just might make my own wine.

Inspiring story: I wish he'd learn some humility!

I picked up the book because I liked the premise; mid-career American guy gets bitten by the wine bug, drops everything and moves to Burgundy to make wine. Lots of great press too. Modern day "American Dream".

Unfortunately, I couldn't stand the self-aggrandizing tone that the book is written in. The first few chapters REALLY got to me. He starts off with a belief that wine is just alcohol, nothing special, then he has a great wine in Italy, then he goes all bonkers over Bordeaux just by name-chasing the classified growths, and almost refuses to taste Burgundian wine because he thought it was inferior to Bordeaux (at the wine tasting that eventually changed his life). At first I thought he would talk about his erroneous prejudices and how he learnt to temper his appreciation of wine, but it seemed like he just converted his classified-growth-chasing obsession for Bordeaux to a terroir-chasing obsession in Burgundy. A true oenophile would love all wine -- some more than others -- but would never have such a narrow-minded, bigoted approach to wine. (And obviously, you should NEVER interview at a Napa/Sonoma winery and tell them how Burgundy is obviously better than them. come on dude.)

Also, for all his respect for Burgundian tradition and terroir, his traveling to Burgundy with "just one harvest", having never made wine, not speaking a word of understandable French, and with the arrogant belief that someone would sell him their precious grapes and allow him to make wine, is just plain hypocritical. People apprentice for YEARS to learn how to make wine, it's an art and a science. (There was a line that really rubbed me the wrong way, which went something along the lines of "If Burgundian monks without technology could do it, so can I" -- these monks have hundreds of years of collective experience, how arrogant must one be to compare himself, with no experience, to those monks??). There's a reason why he just kept getting turned away by everyone he approached. If I were a grape grower, I wouldn't trust this guy with my grapes either! I think the only great thing is that his passion led him to read and learn, and not screw up those amazing grapes. On the one hand, having a "newbie" mindset made him question, for example, the frequency of punching down, and made him decide to try a more gentler approach -- I admired that -- but more often than not, his "know-it-all" attitude was off-putting.

Lots of his behavior mades me cringe. Leaving for holidays during harvest/winemaking season with no-one else in charge? Leaving a barrel in the garage because he had to catch a flight? I'm sorry but that is just plain lack of professionalism. Yes, he has a family, but Burgundian wine (heck, I would say all fine wine) is built upon people's hard work, experience, sacrifices, professionalism, and most of all HUMILITY (to respect the forces of nature, etc). Grape growers don't take holidays during growing season, in case of a sudden frost or change of weather.


All in all, the author was a very lucky guy. His passion probably contributed 20% to his success: the rest, at least what was told in the story, was all luck. Having everything fall into place; grapes, funding, materials, etc. Heck, I think even the grape growers contributed more to his success than he did. I admire his passion, willingness to learn, and his conviction to chase his dream. The fact that he was successful when there were hundreds of possible ways he could've failed makes the story even more special, and I suppose, contributed to the popular press, etc. I just fear that people will learn the wrong thing about wine from the story, especially given some of his bigoted attitude towards wine and his self-aggrandizing egotistical attitude.



Regarding the narration: I appreciate the hard work of the narrator (I couldn't stand his rendition of the author's wife's voice), and I would say most of the French was alright, but it could've been much better, especially the names of the towns/places, etc.

Enjoyable and Educational

Any additional comments?

Great story, well told, and full of wonderful information about Burgundy and basic wine making. This is a very enjoyable listen.

Ray- congrats

I'm very happy for you that you followed your dreams.
Please be in touch. Looking forward!

Gives us hope!

Perfect inspirational book!! My husband and I are on the crazy journey to building a winery. It is in the US, but still a small old style family winery.