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The Complete Idiot's Guide to Wine Basics, 2nd Edition: A Beginner's Guide to Everything You Need to Know about Wine
416
by Tara Q. Thomas
Tara Q. Thomas
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Wine Basics, 2nd Edition: A Beginner's Guide to Everything You Need to Know about Wine
416
by Tara Q. Thomas
Tara Q. Thomas
eBook
$8.99
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8.99
In Stock
Overview
From grape lover to grape aficionado
The possibilities of learning about and buying wine have expanded and so has The Complete Idiot’s Guide® to Wine Basics with a new edition. Here, readers can get their hands on new information such as ordering hard-tofind wine online, discussing the newest and most popular labels and vintages, and understanding the biggest trend in wine today—environmentally conscious wines and winemaking.
Readers will find:
• Essentials about the winemaking process, key terms, tips for tasting, and buying advice
• Organic, biodynamic and natural winemaking
• Winemaking in states other than California, Oregon, and Washington
• Regions gaining popularity, such as South Africa, Eastern Europe, and Portugal
The possibilities of learning about and buying wine have expanded and so has The Complete Idiot’s Guide® to Wine Basics with a new edition. Here, readers can get their hands on new information such as ordering hard-tofind wine online, discussing the newest and most popular labels and vintages, and understanding the biggest trend in wine today—environmentally conscious wines and winemaking.
Readers will find:
• Essentials about the winemaking process, key terms, tips for tasting, and buying advice
• Organic, biodynamic and natural winemaking
• Winemaking in states other than California, Oregon, and Washington
• Regions gaining popularity, such as South Africa, Eastern Europe, and Portugal
Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9781101022078 |
---|---|
Publisher: | DK |
Publication date: | 09/24/2008 |
Series: | COMPLETE IDIOT'S GUIDE Series |
Sold by: | Penguin Group |
Format: | eBook |
Pages: | 416 |
File size: | 2 MB |
About the Author
Tara Q. Thomas is the editor-in-chief for Wine & Spirits magazine. She also serves as the wine editor for Denver Post, where she writes a bi-weekly column for the nation’s fifth largest Sunday newspaper. She is the author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Wine Basics.
Table of Contents
Part 1 | Grape Expectations: Laying Down the Basics | 1 |
1 | What Is Wine, Anyway? | 3 |
Fabulous Fermentation | 3 | |
Buzzed Birds and Tipsy Princesses | 4 | |
Growing Good Wine | 5 | |
Turning Grapes Into Wine | 13 | |
Endless Variation, Endless Exploration | 18 | |
2 | How to Read a Wine Label | 21 |
The Lay of the Label | 22 | |
Who Made It | 25 | |
Where It's From | 26 | |
Reservations About "Reserve" and Other Terms | 28 | |
Which Grapes? | 30 | |
When Vintage Matters | 32 | |
Back Label Details | 33 | |
3 | How to Taste: Get the Most Out of Your Glass | 37 |
Setting Up a Tasting | 38 | |
Pop the Corks | 42 | |
The Five Ss | 44 | |
Putting Wine into Words | 46 | |
Part 2 | What to Taste: The Big Nine | 51 |
4 | Chardonnay | 53 |
What It Tastes Like | 54 | |
Where Chardonnay Grows | 55 | |
What's Your Style? | 61 | |
5 | Sauvignon Blanc | 65 |
The Smell of Sauvignon | 65 | |
Where Sauvignon Shines | 67 | |
Other Occidental Sauvignons | 70 | |
Sauvignon's Soul Mate, Semillon | 73 | |
Find Your Sauvignon Style | 74 | |
6 | Riesling | 79 |
Riesling: The Acid-Head's Grape | 79 | |
Where Riesling Gets Racy | 81 | |
A Matter of Style | 91 | |
7 | Pinot Grigio/Pinot Gris | 95 |
Pinot's Many Faces | 95 | |
What's in a Name | 96 | |
Italy's Pride and Shame | 97 | |
Oregon's Stealth Grape | 101 | |
Pinot Gris Around the World | 102 | |
Picking Pinot Grigio | 102 | |
8 | Cabernet Sauvignon (and Its Father, Franc) | 105 |
Cabernet's Hallmark Flavor | 106 | |
Where It Grows | 107 | |
Meet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon's Father | 116 | |
Find Your Style | 117 | |
9 | Merlot | 121 |
Where Merlot Grows | 121 | |
Bordeaux, France (Again) | 122 | |
Washington State | 124 | |
California Merlot | 125 | |
Italian Merlot | 126 | |
The Rest of the World | 127 | |
What's Your Merlot Style? | 129 | |
10 | Pinot Noir | 133 |
What's the Attraction? | 133 | |
Burgundy: The Pinnacle of Pinot Noir | 135 | |
Oregon's Out Front | 138 | |
New Zealand | 140 | |
A Few Far-Flung Pinot Posts | 140 | |
What's Your Style? | 143 | |
11 | Syrah/Shiraz | 147 |
France's Northern Rhone | 148 | |
Australia's Claim to Fame | 151 | |
California's Rhone Rangers | 154 | |
Washington State | 156 | |
What's Your Style? | 156 | |
12 | Zinfandel | 159 |
Zinfandel's Origins | 160 | |
Zinfandel's Many Faces | 161 | |
Zinfandel's Purview | 162 | |
Zinternational | 165 | |
Primitivo | 165 | |
Which Zinfandel When? | 166 | |
Part 3 | Regional Specialties | 169 |
13 | France's Fragrant Whites | 171 |
Chenin Blanc | 172 | |
Gewurztraminer | 174 | |
Muscat | 175 | |
Viognier | 176 | |
14 | Rhonely Blends from France and Beyond | 179 |
Lonely Rhone Whites: Marsanne and Roussanne | 180 | |
Southern Rhone Whites | 184 | |
Pay Dirt in Vin de Pays? | 185 | |
Southern Rhone Reds | 185 | |
Touring the Rhone by Glass | 190 | |
15 | Iberian Interests | 193 |
Albarino/Alvarinho | 194 | |
Other Iberian White Wines | 196 | |
Which White When? | 198 | |
Tempting Tempranillo | 199 | |
Tastes of Tempranillo | 202 | |
Garnacha | 203 | |
Touriga and Portuguese Varieties | 204 | |
16 | Italy's Originals | 209 |
A Few Caveats First | 209 | |
Italy's Belle Bianchi | 211 | |
Piedmont's White Alternatives | 211 | |
Northern Stars Ribolla Gialla, Tocai Friulano | 212 | |
Trebbiano's Reach | 213 | |
Garganega | 214 | |
Falanghina, Fiano, and Greco: Campania's Ancient Trio | 214 | |
The Three V's: Verdicchio, Vernaccia, Vermentino | 215 | |
Vini Rossi | 215 | |
Sangiovese | 216 | |
Nebbiolo, Piedmont's Liquid Truffle | 218 | |
Barbera and Dolcetto | 219 | |
Corvina | 220 | |
Southern Specials | 220 | |
17 | Underappreciated but Worth a Look | 223 |
A Trio of Obscure Whites | 224 | |
Adventurous Reds | 225 | |
Greece's Awesome Antiquities | 230 | |
Part 4 | Special Styles | 233 |
18 | All That Sparkles | 235 |
Capturing Carbonation | 236 | |
Decoding the Sparkling Wine Label | 238 | |
Pick a Country, Any Country | 240 | |
Don't Point That Thing at Me! | 244 | |
When to Serve Sparkling Wines | 245 | |
19 | Dessert Wines | 247 |
Let It Hang: Waiting for Sugar | 248 | |
Holding On to Sugar | 248 | |
Light, Fizzy Sweet Wines | 249 | |
Sweet, Still Wines | 251 | |
Grapes on Ice | 252 | |
Noble Rot-No Kidding | 253 | |
20 | Port and Other Fortified Wines | 257 |
Port | 258 | |
Styles of Port | 258 | |
Zinfandel "Port" and Aussie "Tawny" | 260 | |
Setubal, Portugal's Other Fortified Wine | 261 | |
Sherry | 261 | |
Madeira | 263 | |
Vin Doux Naturel | 264 | |
Australia's Liqueur Muscat | 265 | |
Part 5 | Shopping Time | 267 |
21 | Why Wine Costs What It Does | 269 |
The Bare Necessities | 270 | |
Labor | 272 | |
Getting It to the Market | 274 | |
Retail vs. Restaurant Prices | 276 | |
To Recap | 276 | |
22 | Buying Wine and Starting a Stash | 279 |
Finding Your Dream Store | 280 | |
Ordering In | 282 | |
Finding Wine You Like | 283 | |
Navigating on Your Own | 284 | |
Starting a Stash | 286 | |
What Wines to Age | 287 | |
Where to Put It All | 290 | |
Part 6 | Now You Have the Wine List... | 293 |
23 | Navigating the Wine List | 295 |
Basic Etiquette | 296 | |
Business Dinner Etiquette | 296 | |
What's a Sommelier? | 297 | |
Take Advantage of the Sommelier | 298 | |
Do-It-Yourself Sommelier-ing | 299 | |
Picking Out the Best Buys | 300 | |
24 | The Tasting Ceremony | 303 |
What to Expect | 304 | |
The Rules of Rejection | 306 | |
The Invisible Tasting Ceremony | 307 | |
Decanting | 307 | |
BYOB | 309 | |
To Tip or Not to Tip | 310 | |
Part 7 | Let's Eat (and Drink) | 311 |
25 | Pairing Wine and Food: Mechanics 101 | 313 |
Common Sense Counts | 314 | |
Take a Cue from the Locals | 315 | |
Underlying Mechanics 101 | 317 | |
Parts of Wine | 320 | |
26 | Company's Coming | 323 |
Planning Ahead | 323 | |
Casual Affairs | 326 | |
Ambitious Affairs | 327 | |
Judging Amounts | 328 | |
Etiquette | 328 | |
When You're the Guest | 329 | |
27 | Basics Down-Now What? | 331 |
The More You Know, the More You Don't Know | 331 | |
Keep On Learning | 332 | |
Free Wine | 332 | |
Lots of Tastes, Little Cost | 333 | |
Charity Tastings | 334 | |
Restaurant Tastings | 334 | |
Courses and Classes | 334 | |
Tasting Clubs | 335 | |
Wine Festivals | 336 | |
Travel, Armchair and Otherwise | 337 | |
Appendixes | ||
A | Glossary | 339 |
B | Wine Resources | 349 |
Index | 355 |
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