{"id":10162,"date":"2016-06-21T19:47:58","date_gmt":"2016-06-21T19:47:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/winecountrygetaways.com\/?p=10162"},"modified":"2016-06-21T21:24:53","modified_gmt":"2016-06-21T21:24:53","slug":"a-autobiography-to-add-to-your-summer-wine-reading-list","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/winecountrygetaways.com\/a-autobiography-to-add-to-your-summer-wine-reading-list\/","title":{"rendered":"A autobiography to add to your summer wine reading list"},"content":{"rendered":"
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I prefer a dry red wine rather than Blue Nun while reading “The Secrets of My Life”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Secrets of My Life:\u00a0Vintner, Prisoner, Soldier, Spy
\nPeter M. F. Sichel<\/h2>\n

How many of you are old enough to remember Blue Nun wine? Blue Nun was wildly popular during years 1950 to 1980. It was a semi-sweet German wine that took the U.S. by storm. It was by many standards the first hugely successful wine promotion in the U.S. This was with the help of Peter Sichel.<\/p>\n

I just finished this thoroughly enjoyable book. \u00a0\u201cThe Secrets of My Life\u201d would certainly be an interesting read for not only wine enthusiasts but anyone who enjoys learning more about life during WWII. We recommend adding this title to your summer wine reading list. \u00a0Peter Sichel\u2019s most interesting autobiography begins with his life as a Jewish child growing up in what would soon become Nazi Germany. Born in 1922, he was the 4th generation in a very successful family of wine merchants. He was sent to England for his education and moved to France in 1939. After being imprisoned and then released, he fled Europe and settled in the United States in 1941.<\/p>\n

After joining the Army, he became a member of the U. S. Office of Strategic Services. He eventually became a senior official in the Central Intelligence Agency during the 1940s and 1950s. This book highlights Sichel\u2019s incredible resilience in dealing with his family\u2019s dilemmas, his disrupted childhood and his career with the OSS and the CIA.<\/p>\n

The last third of the book covers Sichel\u2019s return to Europe in 1959 and his role in his family\u2019s wine business. The business at that time was mainly bottling Bordeaux, Burgundy, and Rhone wines under the Sichel label. He learned the business very quickly and became a wine personality on his own. He wrote \u201cWhich Wine,\u201d a consumer guide to wines available in the U.S., and was a guest on \u201cGood Morning America\u201d and \u201cThe Today Show.\u201d The family\u2019s success with their Blue Nun wines enabled Sichel to become involved in the International Wine Community. \u00a0Sichel looks back on each chapter of his incredible life and thinks fondly of where he has been and the legacy he has left, saying, \u201cI was fortunate to have three unique experiences that shaped my life so dramatically.\u201d<\/p>\n

Purchase the book from Amazon or\u00a0find it at your library. \u00a0Maybe you can\u00a0find some Blue Nun and enjoy a glass while reading\u00a0this fascinating autobiography.<\/p>\n