A Single Book “Poetry Is Growing in Our Garden”

For the fourth installment, we present Poetry Is Growing in Our Garden, a collection of writings by Danish winemaker Anders Frederik Steen, chosen by A&S as this edition’s featured title.

The author began his career as a sommelier, working at Noma, Relæ, and Manfreds before moving to the south of France to begin making wine. This book brings together writings and reflections accumulated over many years on making wine, drinking wine, and continuing to learn.

From observations on tasting and winemaking to questions that move between practice and philosophy, the book extends beyond wine itself and can be read as the journey of someone who continues to engage with a single pursuit.

Featuring a foreword by French chef Pierre Jancou, the volume contains more than 500 pages of writings and records. Through the lens of wine, the book also invites reflection on craftsmanship and learning.

“Because of that particular day in October 2013, I decided to start writing down every little impression in small notes, and from then on I started filling my notebooks and jacket pockets with an endless stream of notes and small pieces of paper covered in useful and less useful words, practical and philosophical approaches to the making of wine. Together, they’ve become a very important tool for my own sense of objectivity when perceiving my observations, reflections, emotions, and practical movements around the wines. What’s often unclear and un-understandable in a given moment turns into something much more consistent and obvious when I read my notes months or years later.”

— Excerpt from the “Preface”