Like Rex Pickett's novel Sideways before it, Vertical (Loose Gravel Press, 395 pages, $15) will probably end up being better as movie than as book, for its pages are overloaded with far-fetched sex scenes, repetitive banter, crude surgical procedures and rampant alcohol and prescription drug abuse. But the memorable scenes-often hilarious, sometimes endearing-leap from the page. Plus, the wine label-dropping and tasting room-hopping don't cease. Wine Spectator's Matt Kettmann explains.
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