Grape wine has been produced for at least 4,000 years, having been aged, stored and transported in every conceivable type of vessel. Its seductiveness has been enhanced by this packaging: primarily three strikingly different containers - amphorae, wooden barrels and glass bottles. Henry H. Work brings extensive wine experience as a cooper, working with wine barrels and living in California's Napa Valley to provide a richly detailed and vivid account of wine containers through the ages. This book delves into the history, evolution, and present use of containers, vessels, and stoppers; from animal skin sacks to barrels, from glass bottles to upstart packaging such as wine casks, and even aluminium cans. It considers the advantages and weaknesses of their construction, designs and labels, methods of shipment and storage, as well as their impact on marketing wine to customers. This is an enlightening and innovative read which draws on the most current archaeological research, scientific data and wine business trends. It is richly peppered throughout with the author's own visits to many of the locations explored in the book, bringing history to life. This book will appeal to individuals within the wine industry, undergraduates in the fields of history, archaeology, food and hospitality, as well as all people interested in wine.

In Vignette, sommelier Jane Lopes recommends the 100 bottles of wine (and some spirits and beers) to best expand your wine journey, giving you a complete education of the important styles, grapes, regions, and flavours of this magical and ever-growing world.

For each bottle, an index of more affordable alternatives is given too. Alongside the wines, you will find imaginative ways to engage with and remember the foundational wine knowledge that underpins a good drinking experience, as well as Jane's personal stories of her own emotional engagement with each wine. It's part memoir and part wine book, but a lot more fun than either alone. 

These are wines to live with, learn from and take solace in - a joyous, surprising and revelatory response to that age-old question, What should I drink?

"Rich in history and admirable scholarship. . . . It's a fine grande champagne of a book, to be savored over and over."
-Patricia Wells, author of The Provence Cookbook
Called the "brandy of the gods" by Victor Hugo, Cognac is a universal symbol of refinement and quality. In the first comprehensive history of this celebrated drink, Kyle Jarrard charts Cognac's birth in the 1500s and its transformation into the world's most coveted brandy. Along the way, he reveals how Cognac distillers weathered vineyard die-offs, the German occupation, and other challenges over the years-and offers a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at Hennessy, Remy-Martin, Courvoisier, Martell, and other legendary brands.
For any Cognac lover, this fascinating book will make the perfect gift.
Kyle Jarrard (Paris, France) is a senior editor at the International Herald Tribune and author of the highly acclaimed novels Over There and Rolling the Bones.

there is no greater pleasure than sharing a fine bottle of wine with friends. On the other hand, there's no greater disappointment than opening a bottle that has been lovingly hoarded and finding that the wine is past its prime. Was the storage of the wine at fault or was it simply a poor bottle Why had the level of the wine in the bottle dropped so dramatically and why did the cork fall apart upon extraction How should wine be selected and what storage conditions will provide the most suitable enviroment for them there is no-one better qualified to answer these questions than Australia's foremost wine expert and wine writer, James Halliday. In this completely updated new edition, he discusses the problems a bottle may encounter during its life and how to minimise them; how to choose white and red wines for cellaring; and the most efficient cellar racking systems. All this information is woven around Halliday's own irresistible tales venerable bottles and never-to-be-forgotten dinners. there is no greater pleasure than sharing a fine bottle of wine with friends. On the other hand, there's no greater disappointment than opening a bottle that has been lovingly hoarded and finding that the wine is past its prime. Was the storage of the wine at fault or was it simply a poor bottle? Why had the level of the wine in the bottle dropped so dramatically and why did the cork fall apart upon extraction? How should wine be selected and what storage conditions will provide the most suitable enviroment for them? there is no-one better qualified to answer these questions than Australia's foremost wine expert and wine writer, James Halliday. In this completely updated new edition, he discusses the problems a bottle may encounter during its life and how to minimise them; how to choose white and red wines for cellaring; and the most efficient cellar racking systems. All this information is woven around Halliday's own irresistible tales venerable bottles and never-to-be-forgotten dinners.

Randy Herrod accomplished what some say is the greatest deed one can perform - risking his life to save another. The life he saved was Oliver North's, dragging his wounded leader out of the line of fire to safety. Later, when Herrod was on trial for the accidental deaths of Vietnamese civilians, North assisted with his own investigation and helped prove his innocence.

A delightful romp through America's Golden Age of Cocktails The decades following the American Civil War burst with invention-they saw the dawn of the telephone, the motor car, electric lights, the airplane-but no innovation was more welcome than the beverage heralded as the "cocktail." The Gilded Age, as it came to be known, was the Golden Age of Cocktails, giving birth to the classic Manhattan and martini that can be ordered at any bar to this day. Scores of whiskey drinks, cooled with ice chips or cubes that chimed against the glass, proved doubly pleasing when mixed, shaken, or stirred with special flavorings, juices, and fruits. The dazzling new drinks flourished coast to coast at sporting events, luncheons, and balls, on ocean liners and yachts, in barrooms, summer resorts, hotels, railroad train club cars, and private homes. From New York to San Francisco, celebrity bartenders rose to fame, inventing drinks for exclusive universities and exotic locales. Bartenders poured their liquid secrets for dancing girls and such industry tycoons as the newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst and the railroad king "Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt. Cecelia Tichi offers a tour of the cocktail hours of the Gilded Age, in which industry, innovation, and progress all take a break to enjoy the signature beverage of the age. Gilded Age Cocktails reveals the fascinating history behind each drink as well as bartenders' formerly secret recipes. Though the Gilded Age cocktail went "underground" during the Prohibition era, it launched the first of many generations whose palates thrilled to a panoply of artistically mixed drinks.

In Clean Cocktails, holistic health coaches Beth Ritter Nydick and Tara Roscioli bring a clean-living mindset to craft mixology. Their recipes use nothing but neutral, low-calorie spirits; fresh juices loaded with vitamins; gentle sweeteners like honey and maple syrup; and anti-inflammatory spices like cinnamon, cayenne and turmeric-the perfect alternative to drinks that are typically loaded with refined sugars, artificial flavours and dyes. Much more than a compendium of cocktails, this book provides recipes for "clean" syrups and bitters so readers can easily build their own delicious drinks. Nydick and Roscioli also highlight ingredients with health benefits, such as ginger (better digestion), cilantro (good for detox) and even vodka (metabolism booster, thanks very much).

The world of wine is more welcoming than ever in this short but comprehensive guide! Calling all wine newbies and wine nerds: This illustrated guide is refreshing as a rose and flavourful as a merlot. As Madelyne Meyer would be the first to tell you, you don't need a book to enjoy wine . . . but knowing more about your favourite glassful can be a pleasure all its own. In Welcome to Wine, Meyer pairs her expert knowledge with 200 witty, whimsical illustrations that make all the essentials crystal clear - so you can get to the good part sooner! Food pairings and the art of wine tasting Serving temperature (without getting hung up on precision!) Key wine regions and exactly how wine is made From choosing wine for a date night to training your nose to pick up "notes," this is the friendliest guide to wine.

A short course in wine appreciation that’s easy, practical, and fun

What’s the difference between a Chardonnay and a Sauvignon Blanc? Can you ever serve red wine with fish? In this fast, focused primer, wine experts Ian Blackburn and Allison Levine answer these and dozens of other basic wine questions, sharing their enthusiasm and giving people the know-how they need to stop worrying about wine and start enjoying it.

Ian Blackburn (Los Angeles, CA) has taught more than 10,000 people about wine through his courses and seminars. He is a consulting wine educator for Cordon Bleu California School of Culinary Arts and founder of the LearnAboutWine Web site.
Allison Levine (Los Angeles, CA) is the Director of Marketing, Public Relations, and Events for the LearnAboutWine Web site and also holds a position on the local board of the American Institute of Wine and Food.

Learn what you need to know about wine-in a single evening
Though more and more Americans enjoy wine each year, many still feel intimidated by the subject. The image of the wine snob - swirling glass in hand, taking luxurious sniffs, and spouting obscure factoids about the vintage - persists, making the rest of us feel lost in a seemingly elite world.
In fact, anyone and everyone can appreciate wine. The Learning Annex Presents the Pleasure of Wine is a straightforward guide that squeezes a seminar's worth of information into a book and answers questions such as:
* What are the different types of wine?
* What kinds of wine come from France, Italy, North America, Australia and New Zealand, South Africa, and South America?
* How do I taste wine, and how do I pair wine with food?
* What are some fun ways to integrate wine into my life?

Full of sidebars and other special features, The Learning Annex Presents the Pleasure of Wine gives you the tools and knowledge you need to select, judge, and enj oy wine - and all in a single night's reading

La Fee Verte (or "The Green Fairy") has intoxicated artists, poets, and writers ever since the late eighteenth century. Stories abound of absinthe's druglike sensations of mood lift and inspiration due to the presence of wormwood, its infamous "special" ingredient, which ultimately leads to delirium, homicidal mania, and death. Opening with the sensational 1905 Absinthe Murdres, Phil Baker offers a cultural history of absinthe, from its modest origins as an herbal tonic through its luxuriantly morbid heyday in the late nineteenth century. Chronicling a fascinatintly lurid cast of historical characters who often died young, the absinthe scrapbook includes Paul Verlaine, Arthur Rimbaud, Charles Baudelaire, Oscar Wilde, Ernest Dowson, Aleister Crowley, Arthur machen, August Strindberg, Alfred Jarry, Vincent van Gogh, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Alphonse Allais, Ernest Hemingway, and Pablo Picasso. Along with discussing the rituals and modus operandi of absinthe drinking, Baker reveals the recently discovered pharmacology of how real absinthe actually works on the nervous system, and he tests the various real and fake absinthe products that are available overseas. Written with "seductive verve and gentle insight" (Times Literary Supplement), The Book of Absinthe is a witty, erudite primer to the world's most notorious drink.

Get hoppin' with this guide to microbrewing your own beer Thinking of brewing your own beer or want to know how it's done? Homebrewing For Dummies is for you. If you're ready to take a crack at making your own brew, you'll need this guide to the supplies, ingredients, and process of crafting the perfect beer. Follow our recipes for lager, porter, stout, and other brew types--or invent your own. When you've tasted your perfect creation (and after the hangover wears off), we've got you covered with ideas for entering your beer into homebrewing competitions and selling your beer. This new edition keeps pace with the exciting world of small-batch beer, introducing you to new flavors and varieties that are popular on the microbrew circuit. We've also got the details on the latest at-home brewing equipment, software and apps, and resources you can tap (get it?) to make a better beer. Not an IPA person? Not to worry! You can also make your own hard seltzers, flavored malt beverages, and juice drinks with this handy how-to. Get recipes and instructions for brewing lagers, porters, and other beers at home Enhance the quality of your small-batch brews and make your operations more eco friendly Enter homebrewing competitions with your beer, hard seltzer, and malt beverages Discover new gadgets, apps, and resources that can make home brewing even easier Homebrewing For Dummies is for anyone looking for a fun and easy-to-use guide to the exciting, rewarding, and refreshing hobby of beer brewing.

Winemaking is never easy - but in the case of Chateau Musar, the most famous wine to come out of Lebanon, there have been times when it has been almost impossibly difficult. Serge Hochar would say 'in Lebanon, difficulties are our habit. We are addicted to difficulties!' and he famously continued to make his wines regardless of the bombing and shelling attacks going on around him. This is his story, and the story of Gaston, Marc, Ralph and Tarek, the new generation that follows him, carrying on the tradition of making wines of charisma and character with minimal interference. It is a tale of our times; winemaking at its most instinctive and natural, inspired by Mother Nature, and resonating powerfully with the spirit of survival that has sustained the Hochars' troubled homeland, Lebanon. With contributions from Kevin Gould, Elizabeth Gilbert, Catherine Miles, Edward Ragg MW, Fongyee Walker MW, Jancis Robinson MW, Michael Broadbent, Steven Spurrier, Andrew Jefford, Bartholomew Broadbent and Susan Keevil, Chateau Musar, The Story of a Wine Icon is the perfect read for those who want to learn more about this incredible wine and delve into the multi-millennia-tradition of Lebanese wine.

Now you can with this indispensable handbook, the most thorough'and thoroughly accessible'bartending guide ever created for both professional and home use. Encyclopedic in scope and filled with clear, simple instructions, The Bartender's Bible includes information on:

• Stocking and equipping a bar'from liquors and mixers to condiments, garnishes, and equipment

• Shot-by-shot recipes for over 1,000 cocktails and mixed drinks from bourbon to rum to whiskey

• Wine drinks

• Beer drinks

• Nonalcoholic drinks

• Special category drinks'tropical, classics, aperitifs, cordials, hot drinks, and party punches

• Anecdotes and histories of favorite potables

• And more!

If you've ever wondered whether to shake or stir a proper Martini, or what to do with those dusty bottles of flavored liqueurs, The Bartender's Bible is the only book you need!

A bartender, as a rule, is a person who enjoys the company of others, endeavors to solve problems, listens to the woes of the world, sympathizes with the mistreated, laughs with the comedians, cheers up the down at heart, and generally controls the atmosphere at his or her bar. A bartender is the manager of moods, the master of mixology.

Certain scenarios are played out over and over again in bars everywhere. The questions are basically the same; only the details vary: What's in a true Singapore Sling? How long has the Martini been around? What's the difference between a Fix and a Fizz? A reference book is as necessary to a bartender as ice.

-- from The Bartender's Bible

Jay McInerney on wine? Yes, Jay McInerney on wine! The best-selling novelist has turned his command of language and flair for metaphor on the world of wine, providing this sublime collection of untraditional musings on wine and wine culture that is as fit for someone looking for “a nice Chardonnay” as it is for the oenophile.

On champagne: “Is Dom Pérignon worth four bottles of Mo‘t & Chandon? If you are a connoisseur, a lover, a snob, or the owner of a large oceangoing craft, the answer . . . is probably yes.”
On the difficulty of picking a wine for a vegetarian meal: “Like boys and girls locked away in same-sex prep schools, most wines yearn for a bit of flesh.”
On telling the difference between Burgundy and Bordeaux: “If it’s red, French, costs too much, and tastes like the water that’s left in the vase after the flowers have died, it’s probably Burgundy.”
On the fungus responsible for the heavenly flavor of the dessert wine called Sauternes: “Not since Baudelaire smoked opium has corruption resulted in such beauty.”

Includes new material plus recommendations on the world’s most romantic wines and the best wines to pair with a meal

Explore the unique flavors of flowers. Elegant, edible flowers are becoming more accessible every day—and they taste as good as they look. This curated collection of 41 delightful recipes combine the playful creativity of fashion, the deliciousness of food, and the beauty of flowers in one gorgeous glass. Whether you're throwing a baby shower, hosting a Mother's Day brunch, celebrating a wedding, or simply entertaining guests, there's something for everyone, with our without alcohol, including:

• Iced Lavender Café au Lait

• Rose Petal Almond Milk

• Dandelion Tea Cinnamon Cappuccino

• Hibiscus Old Fashioned

• Plum Rosewater Gin and Tonic

• Orange Blossom Moscow Mule

Learn how to create floral pantry item staples to create a scrumptious and sophisticated cocktail of your own, and embark on a new culinary adventure. This garden-party eye candy also includes practical tips on where to buy edible flowers, whether to choose fresh or dried flowers, how to grow edible flowers at home, and how to use florals in other recipes.

This book shows you how to make 65 fresh and natural juices for health, vitality and delicious drinking - with a fruit and vegetable guide and 400 photographs. It is a fabulous collection of 65 refreshing recipes for super healthy juices, vital veggie blends, extra exotic coolers and perfect party drinks. You can find the right juice for any occasion from simple Fresh Orange Squash and Ruby Red Lemonade to a Kiwi and Stem Ginger Spritzer and a Broccoli Booster. It offers a comprehensive introduction provides information on ingredients, their properties and health benefits, plus authoritative advice on vitamins and minerals. Cook's tips and variations occur throughout the book. Fresh, homemade juices are delicious, quick and easy to make as well as being packed full of nutrients. This book gives full instructions on how make 65 sensational mixes. A handy reference section gives practical information on juicing equipment, techniques and ingredients. This is followed by the recipe section where you can tempt your tastebuds with Watermelon and Star Anise Fizz and Thyme-Scented Plum Lush, get an instant detox with the Clean Sweep, or revitalize your energy levels with the Veggie Boost.Whether you want a tasty, instant health boost, a sweet treat or a refreshing thirst quencher, this essential guide has everything you need.

..".a very valuable book...Lie any good book, this one raises as many questions as it answers. It is a solidly anthropological volume, combining biological and cultural dimension of the discipline. I recommend the book highly." . American Anthropologist

Over the last decades quite a few studies have been devoted to drinking. Most of these were concerned with alcohol and written by social anthropologists. This book presents multidisciplinary aspects of the ingestion of liquids at large, addressing many of the overt and covert meanings of drinking: from satisfying biological needs to communicating with humans and the hereafter, attempting to reach a differential emotional state or seeking good health and longevity through the ingestion of appropriate beverages. It includes papers from both biological and social scientists and covers a fair range of societies from rural and urban environments, and in continents and countries ranging from Europe, Africa, and Latin America to Malaysia and the Pacific.

Igor de Garine, Emeritus Director of Research, CNRS, Paris, and President of the International Commission for the Anthropology of Food

Over the last decades quite a few studies have been devoted to drinking. Most of these were concerned with alcohol and written by social anthropologists. This book presents multidisciplinary aspects of the ingestion of liquids at large, addressing many of the overt and covert meanings of drinking: from satisfying biological needs to communicating with humans and the hereafter, attempting to reach a differential emotional state or seeking good health and longevity through the ingestion of appropriate beverages. It includes papers from both biological and social scientists and covers a fair range of societies from rural and urban environments, and in continents and countries ranging from Europe, Africa, and Latin America to Malaysia and the Pacific.

This book not only delivers a thorough history of this national spirit, but provides a snapshot of the industry today. With an emphasis on new expressions of whiskey and rising stars in the game, this expanded edition brings more exposure to the whiskey world than ever. Thomas highlights the major players and whiskey hubs across the U.S., from industry giants to smaller craft distilleries that bring quality to your glass. Chapters are dedicated by region, covering the Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, Southwest, and the West. With a special focus on the recent emergence of the third whiskey state, Texas, this is an opportunity to dive deeper into the industry today. Inside you'll find: - Detailed tasting notes for over 300 expressions of whiskey - More than 100 updated profiles of notable distillers - Interviews with master distillers - The history of whiskey across the United States - Original photography of behind the scenes at these distilleries Follow the production of this spirit from grain to glass and get a broader understanding of the whiskey landscape across the country with American Whiskey (Second Edition).