A Perfect Glass of Wine


Book Description

A down-to-earth, entertaining approach to the art of drinking wine—full of suggestions and advice—from the acclaimed wine writer. Many people see the enjoyment of wine as an intimidating and complicated matter, requiring a mastery of arcane rules and rituals. In fact, there’s no more to it than putting each wine to the ultimate test: Does it taste good? Wine writer Brian St. Pierre’s book begins by introducing the basic flavors of the several grape varieties used in making wines around the world. Once those are understood, all the rest flows smoothly—what distinguishes the colors and types, how to match wine with food, how to store and serve it, and even how much to spend on a bottle. St. Pierre’s sensible approach combined with stunning photographs and elegant maps of the world’s great wine-growing regions make this the perfect no-nonsense guide or lovely gift for anyone who wants to learn to understand, appreciate, and, above all, fully enjoy the fruit of the vine. “A more accessible and less daunting introduction . . . The lavish color photographs by San Francisco photographer Deborah Jones are probably more beautiful than useful, but the writing is reassuringly free of jargon and will probably encourage the timid to approach some wines, such as Italian and Rhȏne varietals, that they may have been unsure about.” —San Jose Mercury News “The only difficulty with the book may be where to keep it—it’s informative enough to use in the kitchen, entertaining enough to keep by your bedside, and attractive enough to display on your coffee table.” —Appelation




Expecting Better


Book Description

A gift edition, with a new letter to the reader from Emily—perfect for baby showers and special moments “Emily Oster is the non-judgmental girlfriend holding our hand and guiding us through pregnancy and motherhood. She has done the work to get us the hard facts in a soft, understandable way.” —Amy Schumer What to Expect When You're Expecting meets Freakonomics: an award-winning economist and author of Cribsheet, The Family Firm, and The Unexpected disproves standard recommendations about pregnancy to empower women while they're expecting. Pregnancy—unquestionably one of the most pro­found, meaningful experiences of adulthood—can reduce otherwise intelligent women to, well, babies. Pregnant women are told to avoid cold cuts, sushi, alcohol, and coffee without ever being told why these are forbidden. Rules for prenatal testing are similarly unexplained. Moms-to-be desperately want a resource that empowers them to make their own right choices. When award-winning economist Emily Oster was a mom-to-be herself, she evaluated the data behind the accepted rules of pregnancy, and discovered that most are often misguided and some are just flat-out wrong. Debunking myths and explaining everything from the real effects of caffeine to the surprising dangers of gardening, Expecting Better is the book for every pregnant woman who wants to enjoy a healthy and relaxed pregnancy—and the occasional glass of wine.




Wine. All the Time.


Book Description

“Can I just be Marissa, please? I want to be hilarious and sexy and smart and insanely knowledgeable about wine.” —Mindy Kaling A fresh, fun, and unpretentious guide to wine from Marissa A. Ross, official wine columnist for Bon Appétit. Does the thought of having to buy wine for a dinner party stress you out? Is your go-to strategy to pick the bottle with the coolest label? Are you tired of choosing pairings based on your wallet, instead of your palate? Fear not! Bon Appétit wine columnist and Wine. All The Time. blogger Marissa A. Ross is here to help. In this utterly accessible yet comprehensive guide to wine, Ross will walk you through the ins and outs of wine culture. Told in her signature comedic voice, with personal anecdotes woven in among its lessons, Wine. All the Time. will teach you to sip confidently, and make you laugh as you're doing it. In Wine. All The Time., you’ll learn how to: • Describe what you’re drinking, and recognize your preferences • Find the best bottle for you budget and occasion • Read and understand what’s written on a wine label • Make the perfect pairings between what you’re drinking and what you’re eating • Throw the best damn dinner party your guests will ever attend • And much more




Cork Dork


Book Description

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER AND A NEW YORK TIMES CRITICS' PICK “Thrilling . . . [told] with gonzo élan . . . When the sommelier and blogger Madeline Puckette writes that this book is the Kitchen Confidential of the wine world, she’s not wrong, though Bill Buford’s Heat is probably a shade closer.” —Jennifer Senior, The New York Times Professional journalist and amateur drinker Bianca Bosker didn’t know much about wine—until she discovered an alternate universe where taste reigns supreme, a world of elite sommeliers who dedicate their lives to the pursuit of flavor. Astounded by their fervor and seemingly superhuman sensory powers, she set out to uncover what drove their obsession, and whether she, too, could become a “cork dork.” With boundless curiosity, humor, and a healthy dose of skepticism, Bosker takes the reader inside underground tasting groups, exclusive New York City restaurants, California mass-market wine factories, and even a neuroscientist’s fMRI machine as she attempts to answer the most nagging question of all: what’s the big deal about wine? What she learns will change the way you drink wine—and, perhaps, the way you live—forever. “Think: Eat, Pray, Love meets Somm.” —theSkimm “As informative as it is, well, intoxicating.” —Fortune




Wine Science


Book Description

This revolutionary book is the only indepth reference to detail the processes, developments, and factors affecting the science of winemaking. Jamie Goode, a highly regarded expert on the subject, skilfully opens up this complex subject and explains the background to the various processes involved and the range of issues surrounding their uses. He reports on the vital progress in winemaking research that has been made in the last decade and explains the practical application of science with reference to the range of winemaking techniques used around the world, as well as viticultural practices, organics and ecology, and lifestyle influences. Written in a uniquely accessible style, the book is divided into three sections covering the vineyard, the winery and human interaction with wine. It also features over 80 illustrations and photographs to help make even the most complex topics clear, straightforward and easy to understand.




I Drink Therefore I Am


Book Description

Here Scruton explains the connection between good wine and serious thought with a heady mix of humour and philosophy. We are familiar with the medical opinion that a daily glass of wine is good for the health and also the rival opinion that any more than a glass or two will set us on the road to ruin. Whether or not good for the body, Scruton argues, wine, drunk in the right frame of mind, is definitely good for the soul. And there is no better accompaniment to wine than philosophy. By thinking with wine, you can learn not only to drink in thoughts but to think in draughts. This good-humoured book offers an antidote to the pretentious clap-trap that is written about wine today and a profound apology for the drink on which civilisation has been founded. In vino veritas.




What Makes a Wine Worth Drinking


Book Description

A paean to authentic wines, describing their fundamental qualities and their power to improve and enrich our lives, from "one of the wine world's most intriguing personalities" (New York Times).







The Science of Wine


Book Description

"The Science of Wine does an outstanding job of integrating 'hard' science about wine with the emotional aspects that make wine appealing."--Patrick J. Mahaney, former senior Vice President for wine quality at Robert Mondavi Winery "Jamie Goode is a rarity in the wine world: a trained scientist who can explain complicated subjects without dumbing them down or coming over like a pointy head. It also helps that he's a terrific writer with a real passion for his subject."--Tim Atkin MW, The Observer




The Wine Lover's Daughter


Book Description

In The Wine Lover’s Daughter, Anne Fadiman examines—with all her characteristic wit and feeling—her relationship with her father, Clifton Fadiman, a renowned literary critic, editor, and radio host whose greatest love was wine. An appreciation of wine—along with a plummy upper-crust accent, expensive suits, and an encyclopedic knowledge of Western literature—was an essential element of Clifton Fadiman’s escape from lower-middle-class Brooklyn to swanky Manhattan. But wine was not just a class-vaulting accessory; it was an object of ardent desire. The Wine Lover’s Daughter traces the arc of a man’s infatuation from the glass of cheap Graves he drank in Paris in 1927; through the Château Lafite-Rothschild 1904 he drank to celebrate his eightieth birthday, when he and the bottle were exactly the same age; to the wines that sustained him in his last years, when he was blind but still buoyed, as always, by hedonism. Wine is the spine of this touching memoir; the life and character of Fadiman’s father, along with her relationship with him and her own less ardent relationship with wine, are the flesh. The Wine Lover’s Daughter is a poignant exploration of love, ambition, class, family, and the pleasures of the palate by one of our finest essayists.