The Unofficial Guide to Selecting Wine

Rating:
Summary: Unofficial Guide to Selecting wine
Review: As an average wine drinker who does not have a very refined palate but who enjoys a good glass of wine, I found this book to be very helpful. It is very down-to-earth and does not "talk over" the average person's head. I especially like the margin "bright ideas", etc. I would hightly recommend this book to the occasional wine drinker as well as the connoisseur (and not just because the author is my cousin)!

Rating:
Summary: Unofficial Guide to Selecting wine
Review: As an average wine drinker who does not have a very refined palate but who enjoys a good glass of wine, I found this book to be very helpful. It is very down-to-earth and does not "talk over" the average person's head. I especially like the margin "bright ideas", etc. I would hightly recommend this book to the occasional wine drinker as well as the connoisseur (and not just because the author is my cousin)!

Rating:
Summary: All Help, No Nonsense
Review: Here's a little-known truth about wine: When a person says "I really wish I knew something about wine," he's usually talking through his hat. He really means he wants to know "How can I get, for a decent price, a bottle that I'll like and that won't embarrass me in front of my friends?"

Who can blame him? When knowledgeable wine-lovers say "there are no graduates from wine school," they're not kidding. The subject is endless if--IF--what you want is to know about wine. For the enormous majority, the people who want only good drink at a good price, this book is a godsend.

Felicia Sherbert has two secrets here. The first is that she doesn't bury you in wine-geekery. She does not drone on about rootstocks, degrees Brix and clonal selection; about residual sugar, cold fermentation and barrels of oak (American or French? Limousin or Alliers? Split or sawn? Kiln-dried or air -seasoned?). It's the wine-maker's job to deal with that stuff--not yours.

Her next secret is a copious Table of Contents. Its minutely subdivided vastness allows you to get the help you need when you need it by simply sliding your finger down the page.

Planning to woo with wine over dinner? Slide down the Table of Contents to "A Little Romance." Concerned about cost? See "Pick a Price Point." Don't know how to pull a cork? Worried that it might break? Slide, my friend, slide: Felicia knows you're in trouble and is waiting with the answers. How to decant? What glass to use? How to save the leftover half-bottle? Slide, slide, slide!

After a few jaunts down the slippery slope you'll be a happier, braver person. Then you can go back to the Table of Contents and--if you wish--look for sections and subsections that pique your interest. Such as how much to buy for a party. Sweet wines for dessert. The difference between champagne and sparkling wine. How to deal with wine in a restaurant. And so on. And on.

This is a handy, helpful, no-nonsense book. Like a puppy that follows you home from school, it'll be a friend for life.--Bill Marsano has won a James Beard medal for wine and spirits writing and is the wine editor of Hemispheres, the magazine of United Airlines.

Rating:
Summary: All Help, No Nonsense
Review: Here's a little-known truth about wine: When a person says "I really wish I knew something about wine," he's usually talking through his hat. He really means he wants to know "How can I get, for a decent price, a bottle that I'll like and that won't embarrass me in front of my friends?"

Who can blame him? When knowledgeable wine-lovers say "there are no graduates from wine school," they're not kidding. The subject is endless if--IF--what you want is to know about wine. For the enormous majority, the people who want only good drink at a good price, this book is a godsend.

Felicia Sherbert has two secrets here. The first is that she doesn't bury you in wine-geekery. She does not drone on about rootstocks, degrees Brix and clonal selection; about residual sugar, cold fermentation and barrels of oak (American or French? Limousin or Alliers? Split or sawn? Kiln-dried or air -seasoned?). It's the wine-maker's job to deal with that stuff--not yours.

Her next secret is a copious Table of Contents. Its minutely subdivided vastness allows you to get the help you need when you need it by simply sliding your finger down the page.

Planning to woo with wine over dinner? Slide down the Table of Contents to "A Little Romance." Concerned about cost? See "Pick a Price Point." Don't know how to pull a cork? Worried that it might break? Slide, my friend, slide: Felicia knows you're in trouble and is waiting with the answers. How to decant? What glass to use? How to save the leftover half-bottle? Slide, slide, slide!

After a few jaunts down the slippery slope you'll be a happier, braver person. Then you can go back to the Table of Contents and--if you wish--look for sections and subsections that pique your interest. Such as how much to buy for a party. Sweet wines for dessert. The difference between champagne and sparkling wine. How to deal with wine in a restaurant. And so on. And on.

This is a handy, helpful, no-nonsense book. Like a puppy that follows you home from school, it'll be a friend for life.--Bill Marsano has won a James Beard medal for wine and spirits writing and is the wine editor of Hemispheres, the magazine of United Airlines.

Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: If you occasionally drink wine and wonder why it is that some experiences are so much better than others, then this book is for you. In it the author strips away the pretentious mystery that surrounds wine drinking and encourages the reader to discover their own tastes and preferences. In a nice progression the book lets you learn as much or as little as you like. The basic premise is that the real point to drinking wine is to enjoy it. The secret to making this enjoyment consistent isn't in trying to learn obscure vintages or labels, but in understanding why you like what you like and encouraging you to follow your own tastes. Good advice for wine and and so much else.