What's the difference between brut and extra dry? Is Vintage Champagne worth the extra money? How good are Champagne-style sparkling wines from California? If you find shopping for Champagne a challenge, try the fun, friendly, pretense-free guide Champagne For Dummies and find out just how easy it is to select the perfect bottle of bubbly.

Discover how to

• Appreciate various Champagne styles
• Store and serve Champagnes
• Pair Champagne with food
• Evaluate sparkling wines from the United States and other countries

Celebrate the new millennium with the crisp, classic, delicate elegance of Champagne For Dummies!

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.

Mountainous terrain, volcanic soils, innumerable microclimates, and an ancient culture of winemaking influenced by Greeks, Phoenicians, and Romans make Italy the most diverse country in the world of wine. This diversity is reflected in the fact that Italy grows the largest number of native wine grapes known, amounting to more than a quarter of the world's commercial wine grape types. Ian D'Agata spent thirteen years interviewing producers, walking vineyards, studying available research, and tasting wines to create this authoritative guide to Italy's native grapes and their wines. Writing with great enthusiasm and deep knowledge, D'Agata discusses more than five hundred different native Italian grape varieties, from Aglianico to Zibibbo.
D'Agata provides details about how wine grapes are identified and classified, what clones are available, which soils are ideal, and what genetic evidence tells us about a variety's parentage. He gives historical and anecdotal accounts of each grape variety and describes the characteristics of wines made from the grape. A regional list of varieties and a list of the best producers provide additional guidance. Comprehensive, thoroughly researched, and engaging, this book is the perfect companion for anyone who wants to know more about the vast enological treasures cultivated in Italy.

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.

This 43rd edition of the authoritative South African wine guide features Five Star wines out of over 8,000 wines reviewed. Platter's features descriptions of over 900 producers across the vibrant wine regions of South Africa and also offers the 100-point equivalents for the familiar star ratings, as well as useful information for learning about and travelling in these beautiful wine lands.

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.

Wine insiders called Andre Tchelistcheff the "winemaker's winemaker," the "wine doctor," and simply "maestro." After Prohibition brought Napa Valley and its wine industry to the brink of catastrophe, Tchelistcheff (1901-94) proved essential in its revitalization. Tchelistcheff's unique background-a sickly child, a Russian emigre forced from his homeland during the Bolshevik Revolution, a White Army lieutenant who fought in the Crimea, a physical laborer in a Bulgarian coal mine, a Czechoslovakian-trained agronomist, and a French-schooled viticulturist and enologist-prepared him for a remarkable winemaking career. He spent thirty-five years in Napa Valley's Beaulieu Vineyard and nearly two "post-retirement" decades doing freelance consulting work for more than thirty wineries. His early struggles forged his principal character traits, which he passed on to an entire generation of winemakers. His students, including some of the most accomplished winemakers of the post-Prohibition period, marveled over their mentor's sense of authority, profound insight, humble presence, and abundant wisdom. This inspiring account of Tchelistcheff's life includes interviews with friends, family, and mentees, which reveal how one man used his passion and knowledge to help save a community on the edge of disaster. In Maestro James O. Gump preserves the memory of a fascinating individual and one of the most influential winemakers of the modern era.

Wine may be one of the world s oldest beverages, but it s never been a better time to pour a glass. Whether you prefer robust reds or crisp, zippy whites, you ll find lots to drink in in this pocket-sized guide packed with information, how-tos, and trivia for wine enthusiasts of every variety. Seasoned sommeliers and newbie wine fans alike will learn expert tasting techniques, which glassware to use and when, how to pair wine with food, how to build a wine collection (no fancy cellar needed!) and even how to open a bottle of wine when no one brought a corkscrew. Plus, guides to wine lingo, proper serving temperatures, and the best wines for every price point. Like all STUFF titles, the handy size and attractive package make this book perfect for a gift. Sante!

Following the success of Wine Trails, we now bring you 40 perfect weekends in Australia and New Zealand wine country, introducing vineyards in regions including the Clare Valley, Margaret River, Hawkes Bay, Tamar Valley and Marlborough, as well as celebrating secret gems off the beaten path. Wine Trails - Australia & New Zealand is perfect for travel enthusiasts with a passion for wine. It includes detailed itineraries recommending the most interesting wineries and the best places to stay and where to eat in 40 wine regions near major cities. Winemakers offer personal insights into what wines to taste and why they're special, and help you understand a place, its people and their traditions through the wine that's made there. Entries are accompanied by gorgeous photos, maps and in-the-know authors. About Lonely Planet: Lonely Planet is a leading travel media company and the world's number one travel guidebook brand, providing both inspiring and trustworthy information for every kind of traveller since 1973. Over the past four decades, we've printed over 145 million guidebooks and grown a dedicated, passionate global community of travellers. You'll also find our content online, on mobile, video and in 14 languages, 12 international magazines, armchair and lifestyle books, ebooks, and more.

Following the success of Wine Trails, we now bring you 40 perfect weekends in North American wine country, introducing vineyards in regions including Sonoma, Walla Walla, Finger Lakes, Texas Hill Country and Okanagan, as well as celebrating secret gems off the beaten path. Wine Trails - United States and Canada is perfect for travel enthusiasts with a passion for wine. It includes detailed itineraries recommending the most interesting wineries and the best places to stay and where to eat in 40 wine regions near major cities. Winemakers offer personal insights into what wines to taste and why they're special, and help you understand a place, its people and their traditions through the wine that's made there. Entries are accompanied by gorgeous photos, maps and in-the-know authors. About Lonely Planet: Lonely Planet is a leading travel media company and the world's number one travel guidebook brand, providing both inspiring and trustworthy information for every kind of traveller since 1973. Over the past four decades, we've printed over 145 million guidebooks and grown a dedicated, passionate global community of travellers. You'll also find our content online, on mobile, video and in 14 languages, 12 international magazines, armchair and lifestyle books, ebooks, and more.

The moment he was handed a glass of Cockburn 1908 vintage port by his grandfather at 13 years old, Steven Spurrier knew he would make wine his career. He travelled Europe in his red sports car (fitted with a compact wine fridge in the boot), working the vintage in Burgundy, Bordeaux and Champagne, before his first extraordinary move was to set up shop and sell wine to the French. As an Englishman in the heart of Paris, this seemed a remarkably bold (if not foolish) project, but the plan worked. Steven's adventures in wine did not stop there. In 1976, he went on to mastermind the 'Judgement of Paris', the France v California blind tasting that changed the wine world forever. This memoir looks back on Steven's life charting the incidents, adventures, ideas and discoveries that formed his wine journey. With tributes from Hugh Johnson, Miguel Torres, Oz Clarke, Jancis Robinson MW, Warren Winiarski and many more...

A New York Times Best Wine Book of 2018 Flawless is the first book of its kind dedicated to exploring the main causes of faults in wine. From cork taint, to volatile acidity, to off-putting aromas and flavors, all wine connoisseurs have encountered unappealing qualities in a disappointing bottle. But are all faults truly bad? Are some even desirable? Jamie Goode brings his authoritative voice to the table once again to demystify the science behind what causes a good bottle to go bad. By exposing the root causes of faults in wine, Flawless challenges us to rethink our assumptions about how wine should taste and how we can understand beauty in a glass.

Drinking wine can be traced back 8,000 years, yet the wines we drink today are radically different from those made in earlier eras. While its basic chemistry remains largely the same, wine's social roles have changed fundamentally, being invented and reinvented many times over many centuries.

In Inventing Wine, Paul Lukacs tells the enticing story of wine's transformation from a source of spiritual and bodily nourishment to a foodstuff valued for the wide array of pleasures it can provide. He chronicles how the prototypes of contemporary wines first emerged when people began to have options of what to drink, and he demonstrates that people selected wine for dramatically different reasons than those expressed when doing so was a necessity rather than a choice.

During wine's long history, men and women imbued wine with different cultural meanings and invented different cultural roles for it to play. The power of such invention belonged both to those drinking wine and to those producing it. These included tastemakers like the medieval Cistercian monks of Burgundy who first thought of place as an important aspect of wine's identity; nineteenth-century writers such as Grimod de la Reyniere and Cyrus Redding who strived to give wine a rarefied aesthetic status; scientists like Louis Pasteur and Emile Peynaud who worked to help winemakers take more control over their craft; and a host of visionary vintners who aimed to produce better, more distinctive-tasting wines, eventually bringing high-quality wine to consumers around the globe.

By charting the changes in both wine's appreciation and its production, Lukacs offers a fascinating new way to look at the present as well as the past."

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.

This essential reference for oenophiles -- long used as the go-to text for the prestigious Master Sommelier examination -- is the most comprehensive guide to the world of wine, featuring authoritative information on the history, culture, geography, and taste of vintages around the globe. Fully updated and revised for the first time since 2011, this new 800-page edition of Sotheby's Wine Encyclopedia reflects the most recent trends in the dynamic world of wine, written by experts around the globe. Beautifully illustrated with more than 400 images and 100 brand new National Geographic maps, this definitive guide is arranged geographically to highlight the regions and climates that produce the best vintages. From the countries of Southeast Europe to the Eastern Mediterranean, each page is packed with information on flavor notes, vineyard profiles, tasting room guides, grape know-how, and special information on unique varietals. The book also features top wines organized by maker and year; a troubleshooter's guide to potential wine faults; a taste chart to help identify flavors; up-and-coming producers; unusual wines, food pairings, and more. You'll also find time lines depicting the chronology of wine from 500 million B.C., expert sommelier tips, and thousands of recommendations for the latest and greatest reds, whites, and roses. The most up-to-date and comprehensive wine refence in the world, this stunning book is an oenophile's dream -- and a must-have for anyone looking to become an expert in wine.

"A fascinating book that belongs on every wine lover's bookshelf."-The Wine Economist "It's a book to read for its unstoppable torrent of fascinating and often surprising details."-Andrew Jefford, Decanter For centuries, wine has been associated with France more than with any other country. France remains one of the world's leading wine producers by volume and enjoys unrivaled cultural recognition for its wine. If any wine regions are global household names, they are French regions such as Champagne, Bordeaux, and Burgundy. Within the wine world, products from French regions are still benchmarks for many wines. French Wine is the first synthetic history of wine in France: from Etruscan, Greek, and Roman imports and the adoption of wine by beer-drinking Gauls to its present status within the global marketplace. Rod Phillips places the history of grape growing and winemaking in each of the country's major regions within broad historical and cultural contexts. Examining a range of influences on the wine industry, wine trade, and wine itself, the book explores religion, economics, politics, revolution, and war, as well as climate and vine diseases. French Wine is the essential reference on French wine for collectors, consumers, sommeliers, and industry professionals.

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.

Compact and easy-to-navigate, the Halliday Pocket Wine Companion 2023 distils the key elements of the bestselling annual guide, curating the best-of-the-best both by value and rating across Australia's key wine regions. For almost 40 years, James Halliday has been the most trusted name in Australian wine, and his celebrated annual is the ultimate guide to what to drink now. The Halliday Pocket Wine Companion gives wine lovers access to his expert knowledge in a small package that is convenient to read, use and carry. You'll never drink a bad wine again.

Following on the success of her books on Brunello di Montalcino, renowned author and wine critic Kerin O'Keefe takes readers on a historic and in-depth journey to discover Barolo and Barbaresco, two of Italy's most fascinating and storied wines. In this groundbreaking new book, O'Keefe gives a comprehensive overview of the stunning side-by-side growing areas of these two world-class wines that are separated only by the city of Alba and profiles a number of the fiercely individualistic winemakers who create structured yet elegant and complex wines of remarkable depth from Italy's most noble grape, Nebbiolo. A masterful narrator of the aristocratic origins of winemaking in this region, O'Keefe gives readers a clear picture of why Barolo is called both the King of Wines and the Wine of Kings. Profiles of key Barolo and Barbaresco villages include fascinating stories of the families, wine producers, and idiosyncratic personalities that have shaped the area and its wines and helped ignite the Quality Wine Revolution that eventually swept through all of Italy. The book also considers practical factors impacting winemaking in this region, including climate change, destructive use of harsh chemicals in the vineyards versus the gentler treatments used for centuries, the various schools of thought regarding vinification and aging, and expansion and zoning of vineyard areas. Readers will also appreciate a helpful vintage guide to Barolo and Barbaresco and a glossary of useful Italian wine terms.

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.