Lawrence Osborne’s 2004 tale of his “irreverent journey through the wine world” remains cutting edge ten years later in its depiction of the schism between the wine establishment and, for lack of a better word, its challengers.
Osborne clearly begins his odyssey with a point of view. His principal acknowledgement at the end of the book is to Jonathan Nossiter, producer of the controversial film, Mondo Vino. The movie features a similar cast of characters including importer Neal Rosenthal, the Mondavis, and critic Robert Parker. In both Accidental Connoisseur and Mondo Vino, the establishment characters do not shine brightly.
To me, The Accidental Connoisseur goes beyond the author’s 
search for the meaning of wine. It’s reminiscent of the journeys of Robert Pirsig in Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Carlos Casteneda in his adventures with Don Juan, Janwillem van de Wetering in Japan.
In the end, enlightment comes from the journey. Osborne’s ends at night on an obscure beach in southern Italy with a bottle of unknown white table wine and the recollection of a phrase from the Colossus of Maroussi “which could well be an epitaph for wine if it ever disappears from the world: peace to all men and life more abundant”
I also highly recommend Osborne’s 2013 book, The Wet and the Dry, A Drinker’s journey, his depiction of trying to get a drink in Islamic countries.
MrBigJ