Sure, drinking wine is all fun and good times, but learning about it isn't always as easy. With Grasping the Grape, Maryse Chevriere seeks to be like that friend from school you went to for help because they took the best notes in class (complete with visuals). Featuring profiles of more than 30 of the world's most prominent grapes, this guide to wine gives you the quick download on all the essentials: What the variety tastes like, where it's grown, what wines it's known for, what to drink it with, how to describe it and which other grapes to explore if you're a fan. Because when it comes down to it, learning the grapes is the best way to start your journey into wine.

In Grasping the Grape, you'll also find information on key beginner wine drinking topics like how to become a better shopper and FAQs about rosé, as well as a handy plan of action for food and wine pairing, and a drinking game to help you become a sharper taster. If you weren't grasping for a glass of wine before, you will be after this.

The primary text since 1997 for scores of universities and winemakers in a dozen countries, Concepts in Wine Chemistry, by physical chemist and winemaker Yair Margalit, is now totally revised and updated, making it, in editor James Crumb's, Ph.D. words, "the broadest, most meticulous book on the topic in print."Under study here is the basic and advanced chemistry behind the practical concepts of winemaking: must and wine composition, fermentation, phenolic compounds, aroma and flavor, oxidation and wine aging, oak products, sulfur dioxide, cellar processes and wine faults. Dr. Margalit also gives the biochemist's slant on the question: is wine good for you?New to this edition are the latest discoveries that have changed winemaking and brought about new techniques and innovations, including advances in the understanding of volatile esters, red wine phenolic compounds, yeast and factors affecting fermentation, flavour compounds and red-wine colour characteristics, technical properties of "naturally fermented" wines, pesticide use, malolactic fermentation, and the use of wood.

Interest in wine has steadily increased in recent years, with people far more sophisticated about wine than they used to be. And, inevitably, those who take a serious interest in wine find themselves asking questions about it that are at heart philosophical.
Questions of Taste is the first book to tackle these questions, illuminating the philosophical issues surrounding our love of wine. Featuring lucid essays by top philosophers, a linguist, a biochemist, and a winemaker and wine critic, this book applies their critical and analytical skills to answer--or at least understand--many thorny questions. Does the experience of wine lie in the glass or in our minds? Does the elaborate language we use to describe wine--alluding to the flavors of cheese or fruit, or to a wine's "suppleness" or "brawniness"---really mean anything at all? Can two people taste one wine in the same way? Does a wine expert enjoy wine more than a novice? These questions and others are not just the concern of the wine lover, but go to the heart of how we think about the world around us--and are the province of the philosopher.
With a foreword by leading wine authority Jancis Robinson (editor of the highly acclaimed Oxford Companion to Wine), this volume will be of interest to anyone who thinks seriously about the experience of enjoying wine, as well as those interested in seeing philosophy applied to the world of the everyday.

This book covers the basics of making wine and how and what various types differ. The author shows you how to train your palate so that you are able judge the relative qualities of the wine you produce. It includes 55 recipes as well as instructions for racking, processing and maturing.

A delightful revised edition of a classic book from the Batsford backlist, Drink Your Own Garden will appeal to anyone seeking a more self-sufficient lifestyle. This is a wonderfully imaginative guide to making the most of your delicious garden produce, from damson and marigold wines, through to honey mead and rhubarb cordial.With a guidelines for each step of the way, including equipment and ingredients, a seasonal guide to what to grow when and a list of potential problems and remedies; over 140 recipes for berry and bush wines, flower wines, fruit wines, grain wines, herb wines, leaf and sap wines, vegetable wines, mead and beers, as well as non-alcoholic choices such as refreshing fruit juices, cordials and teas.Accompanied by vintage-style colour illustrations throughout, this handy and accessible guide will ensure that before long you will be making the most of the seasonal fruits and vegetables from your garden and enjoying a glass of delicious home brew.

Every wine has a story. In this collection of elegantly written essays from the past thirty years, updated with a new introduction and endnotes, renowned author Gerald Asher informs wine enthusiasts with insightful, engrossing accounts of wines from Europe and America that offer just as much for those who simply enjoy vivid evocations of people and places. Asher puts wine in its context by taking the reader on a series of discursive journeys that start with the carafe at his elbow. In his introduction, Asher says, "Wine ...draws on everything and leads everywhere". Whether the subject is a supposedly simple red wine shared in a Parisian cafe or a Napa Valley Cabernet tasted with its vintner, every essay in "A Carafe of Red" is as pleasurable as the wines themselves.

Inspired by a deep passion for wine, an Italian heritage, and a desire for a land somewhat wilder than his home in southern France, Robert V. Camuto set out to explore Sicily's emerging wine scene. What he discovered during more than a year of traveling the region, however, was far more than a fascinating wine frontier. Chronicling his journey through Palermo to Marsala, and across the rugged interior of Sicily to the heights of Mount Etna, Camuto captures the personalities and flavors and the traditions and natural riches that have made Italy's largest and oldest wine region the world traveler's newest discovery. In the island's vastly different wines he finds an expression of humanity and nature-and the space where the two merge into something more. Here, amid the wild landscapes, lavish markets, dramatic religious rituals, deliciously contrasting flavors, and astonishing natural warmth of its people, Camuto portrays Sicily at a shining moment in history. He takes readers into the anti-Mafia movement growing in the former mob vineyards around infamous Corleone; tells the stories of some of the island's most prominent landowning families; and introduces us to film and music celebrities and other foreigners drawn to Sicily's vineyards. His book takes wine as a powerful metaphor for the independent identity of this mythic land, which has thrown off its legacies of violence, corruption, and poverty to emerge, finally free, with its great soul intact. Watch the Palmento book trailer on YouTube.

In comparative tastings, wines from California's Central Coast rival those from such renowned regions as Bordeaux, Burgundy, and Napa, yet they also offer superb value. This is the first comprehensive guide to one of the world's most dynamic and beautiful wine regions-and the setting for the award-winning movie "Sideways." An excellent, one-stop resource for touring and tasting at convenient wineries located from Monterey to Santa Barbara, the guide is organized into county-by-county alphabetical listings for this up-and-coming region.
"Wines and Wineries of California's Central Coast "includes:
* Profiles of nearly 300 wineries personally visited by the author
* Profiles of individual vintners
* 5 maps
* Winery ratings, plus author and winemaker recommendations
* Visitors' and contact information for each winery
* Discussions of regional wine history and terroir
* Descriptions of designated American Viticultural Areas and grape varietals

"A History of Wine in America" is the definitive account of winemaking in the United States, first as it was carried out under Prohibition, and then as it developed and spread to all fifty states after the repeal of Prohibition. Engagingly written, exhaustively researched, and rich in detail, this book describes how Prohibition devastated the wine industry, the conditions of renewal after Repeal, the various New Deal measures that affected wine, and the early markets and methods. Thomas Pinney goes on to examine the effects of World War II and how the troubled postwar years led to the great wine boom of the late 1960s, the spread of winegrowing to almost every state, and its continued expansion to the present day. The history of wine in America is, in many ways, the history of America and of American enterprise in microcosm. Pinney's sweeping narrative comprises a lively cast of characters that includes politicians, bootleggers, entrepreneurs, growers, scientists, and visionaries. Pinney relates the development of winemaking in states such as New York and Ohio; its extension to Pennsylvania, Virginia, Texas, and other states; and its notable successes in California, Washington, and Oregon. He is the first to tell the complete and connected story of the rebirth of the wine industry in California, now one of the most successful winemaking regions in the world.

Beer is just a beverage, but wine is an experience. There's an aura of romance, a hint of the sublime, to bringing a bottle up from your own cellar, carefully drawing out the cork, pouring the wine into a goblet, and taking the first delectable sip.

Now Jeff Cox, author of From Vines to Wines (89,000 copies in print) and a connoisseur well respected in wine circles, shows you how easy it is to have a wine cellar of your own.

But Cellaring Wine is not a home-building project book. In some cases, the would-be wine collector doesn?t have to do much building at all. Rather, Cellaring Wine teaches anyone who loves wine how to create a working system of selecting wines that will age well, know how to lay them down properly, and recognize when they have matured to their full glory and are ready to be savored.

Cox pinpoints the optimum conditions of temperature, light, and humidity for a wine cellar. He walks you through possible locations for your wine cellar ? whether in the basement, an old root cellar, the back of your garage, or even a closet or room in your house ? and what each location requires. He explains when you?ll need a climate-control device (and how much they cost). And he discusses the pros and cons of buying a freestanding unit that is much like a refrigerator.

Then Cox tackles the question that most troubles wine lovers: Which wines will improve with age, and which won?t? This chapter alone is worth the price of the book, since nothing is more disappointing to a wine lover than waiting years to open a bottle of wine only to discover that it was at its peak when it was laid down.

Cox shows you how to keep accurate records so you know at a glance ? without having tohunt through the wine racks ? what you have, where it's located, and how much to buy so the cellar doesn?t become depleted. And he gives you a crash course in appreciating the fragrance and flavor of a fine wine.Perhaps best of all, Cox gets readers excited about the possibilities of having their own wine cellar. After all, a cellar is not just a storage room, it's a university where good young wines become great.

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.

The First Complete Guide to the 1855 Bordeaux Classification—A Fascinating Account for Wine Lovers and an Authoritative Reference for Wine Industry Professionals The 1855 Bordeaux Classification has been a fixture of the wine world for almost 150 years, yet the origin of the system and the thinking behind it have never been thoroughly researched and presented in detail—until now. How was the 1855 classification drafted? Who was responsible? What was the rationale for the cru classé rating, and what criteria were used to determine inclusion and ranking? 1855: A History of the Bordeaux Classification answers these central questions and more. Drawing on primary source material gleaned through professional organizations, municipal archives, and author visits to each Médoc, Graves, and Sauternes property listed in the 1855 classification, this immaculately researched book demystifies every key aspect of the subject. Appendices give readers direct access to documents from the archives of the Bordeaux Chamber of Commerce, selected Bordeaux wine price quotations, and other valuable information. With thoughtful conclusions on the continued viability of the 1855 classification today, this book is essential reading for informed wine industry professionals and wine lovers alike.

Following in the footsteps of other illustrious Italian gastronomic successes - from pizza to pasta, from mozzarella to Parmesan and mortadella - Prosecco is the most recent "made in Italy" product to have colonized the world. But what is its history, and how did it come to be a global phenomenon? Luigi Bolzon retraces the origins of Prosecco's immense popularity back to the story of the Italian emigrants who left their country in the second half of the nineteenth century and the experiences of those who, knowingly or not, were most instrumental in cementing Prosecco's reputation in the UK and worldwide. Peppered with anecdotes and containing a rich tapestry of direct testimonies from the protagonists of Prosecco's ascent in the world of wines, Bolzon's book delves deep into the Italian soul to offer an insightful look behind the production and the continuing success of Britain's most loved bubbly.

Award-winning sommelier Chris Morrison believes that your wine decisions should be driven by your own sense of taste - and by the way you like to eat, drink and live. In This Is Not A Wine Guide he helps readers develop the confidence to choose, purchase, serve, share and ultimately even collect wine without feeling the need to rely on the 'old rules' involving notes, scores, jargon and reviews. Morrison answers the question all of us ponder when faced with choosing wine from a wine list or from the bottleshop shelf: 'Where do I start?' This Is Not A Wine Guide tackles the fundamentals and then moves from the bottle forwards: into the reasons you choose it, open it and drink it; with what company, under what circumstances, in what glasses - and with what food. Because this is a wine book for people who also love food. For Morrison, food and its taste and textures represent the narrative that can unlock wine - 'wine doesn't make sense without food'. This Is Not A Wine Guide is packed with information and advice to help you get the most out of your wine experience, whether it's cracking a bottle for a barbecue, navigating a wine list in a restaurant, wondering what to serve with kimchi, or what to do when the cork crumbles.

If you love Holly Martin, Sarah Morgan and Jill Shalvis, you'll love Jaci Burton! What readers are saying about The Engagement Arrangement! 'What a lovely summer read! The vineyard setting was so idyllic and romantic' Don't miss The Best Man Plan - out now! A 'sweet and hot friends-to-lovers story' set in a gorgeous vineyard! 'Always sexy, romantic and charming' Jill Shalvis 'The characters leap off the page and the romance sparkles' Romantic Times What do you do when you develop feelings for your fake fiance? Jaci Burton's next Boots and Bouquets novel is an accidentally-in-love romance sure to warm your heart. Brenna Bellini is never going to get married again. She's thrilled to be her friend's bridesmaid though - that is, until she realizes who else is in the wedding party. Brenna's going to have to spend four days in the company of not only her ex-husband, but also her high school nemesis. There's no way she'll let the fact she's single be rubbed in her face all weekend. She's going to find herself a fake fiance. Finn Nolan has had it bad for Brenna ever since he came from Ireland to work at the Bellini family vineyard. After falling for Brenna from afar, this Irish cowboy is determined to take the chance to show the woman of his dreams that he is her Mr Right. So what does a confirmed never-getting-married-again woman do when the man of her dreams unexpectedly lands right in front of her? Because for the first time, she might not be able to walk away. This time it might be forever. Want more fun romance? Look out for more cowboys and weddings in the Boots and Bouquets series and check out Jaci's gorgeously romantic Hope series beginning with Hope Flames. Or, to turn up the heat, look out for Jaci's sizzling Brotherhood by Fire and Play-By-Play series which began with The Perfect Play.

No poems can live long or please that are written by water-drinkers. Horace, Roman poet I like [champagne] because it always tastes as though my foot is asleep. Art Buchwald In Wine Froth, Washington Post wine columnist Dick Rosano celebrates 8,000 years of wine-stained history with this droll, profound, bizarre, hilarious, charming, and totally entertaining collection of wine quotes, anecdotes, and trivia. Here s another sample: Richard Nixon knew his wines, and which were being served at White House dinner functions. He instructed the serving staff to hide the labels of certain bottles, and that he was to be poured the best of them, and particular guests were to get the other stuff. Also included in this richly illustrated little book are scores of tips to help make wine a little easier to enjoy, such as: adding kosher salt to your bucket of ice will chill wine faster. Merlot is French for little blackbird"