Travel the world of wine, learning how to sample and enjoy
This book takes you around the world with your destination being a better understanding of wine in each country. Exploring Wine for Dummies looks at the wines of Europe, Australia, South Africa, and other locations. It also prepares you to use your senses to properly access various wine varieties and be more discriminating in your choices. Dessert wines, champagnes and food pairings are also featured. Feel more confident when choosing wine as gift or ordering wine at dinner. The journey can begin now!
Cuprins
1. Wine 101 4
The basics: turning grapes into wine and telling red from white
Feature 1: Keeping Leftover Wine 9
2. Grape Expectations: Grape Varieties 10
Sorting out the raw materials: grapes and what they do
3. Judging a Wine by Its Label 16
Decoding the label lingo
4. The Wine Name Game 22
Understanding what’s in a name through the mysteries of terroir and brand
5. These Taste Buds Are for You 28
Getting to grips with the subject: smelling, tasting and describing wine
6. Finding and Buying Good Wine 34
Knowing your good wine from your bad, and where to find the good stuff
7. Marrying Wine with Food 40
Matching what you drink with what you want to eat, whether dining in or out
Feature 2: Restaurant Wine Tips 46
8. French Wines and the Legendary Bordeaux 48
Taking a trip through the heartland of great wine
9. Burgundy: The Other Great French Wine 56
From Beaujolais to Chablis – and beyond
10. Other French Wines 62
Discovering the riches of the Rhône and the Loire – amongst others
11. Wine in Italy: Piedmont and Tuscany 68
Getting in the zone with Italy’s great reds
12. Tre Venezie and Other Italian Regions 74
Exploring the northeast – and the rest
Feature 3: Does the Glass Really Matter? 78
13. Intriguing Wines from Old Spain 80
Running the rule over Rioja, Ribera del Duero and Priorato
14. Wines in Germany and Portugal 86
Reviewing Germany’s Rieslings and Portugal’s Vinho Verde
15. Wines Elsewhere in Europe 92
Rounding up the best of the rest of Europe
16. North American Wines 96
Checking our the best in the West
Feature 4: Does Wine Really Breathe? 102
17. Australian and New Zealand Wines Arise 104
Discovering delights down under, from Murray River to Marlborough
18. Heating It Up with Chile, Argentina, and South Africa 110
Surveying the Southern hemisphere in Old World and the New
19. Champagnes and Other Sparkling Wines 116
Adding some sparkle with Champagne and other bubblies
20. Wine Roads Less Travelled: Fortified and Dessert Wines 122
Coming on strong with fortified and dessert wines
Feature 5: Vintage Wine Chart 128
Despre autor
The Experts at Dummies are smart, friendly people who make learning easy by taking a not-so-serious approach to serious stuff.