Wine All-in-One For Dummies E-Book

Ed McCarthy

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 1121

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2009

Beschreibung

An all-inclusive, easy-to-use primer to all things wine

Want to learn about wine, but don't know where to start? Wine All-In-One For Dummies provides comprehensive information about the basics of wine in one easy-to-understand volume. Combining the bestselling Wine For Dummies with our regional and specific wine titles, this book gives you the guidance you need to understand, purchase, drink and enjoy wine.

You'll start at the beginning as you discover how wine is made. From there you'll explore grape varieties and vineyards, read labels and wine lists, and discover all the nuances of tasting wine. You'll see how to successfully store wine and serve it to your guests-and even build up an impressive collection of wine. Plus, you'll find suggestions for perfect food pairings and complete coverage on wines from around the world.

• Features wine tasting, serving, storing, collecting, and buying tips, all in a single authoritative volume
• Includes information on California wines, as well as other domestic and foreign locations including the US, Canada, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Greece, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Chile, and Argentina.
• Helps you choose the best vintage for your needs
• Also covers champagne, sherry, and port wine
• Ed McCarthy and Mary Ewing-Mulligan are the authors of seven Dummies books on wine including the bestselling Wine For Dummies, 4th Edition, other contributing authors are recognized wine experts and journalists in Australia, New Zealand, and Canada

Whether you're a wine novice or a budding sommelier, Wine All-In-One For Dummies is the one guide you need on your shelf to make your wine experience complete.

Leseprobe

Wine All-in-One For Dummies®

Table of Contents

Introduction

About This Book

Conventions Used in This Book

Foolish Assumptions

How This Book Is Organized

Book I: Understanding Wine

Book II: France: A Wine Superstar

Book III: Italy: Small but Mighty

Book IV: California and Elsewhere in North America

Book V: Australia and New Zealand: Powerhouses of the Southern Hemisphere

Book VI: And More Wine Regions!

Icons Used in This Book

Where to Go from Here

Book I: Understanding Wine

Chapter 1: From Vine to Bottle:The Hows and Wines

Surveying the Landscape: Wine Categories

Sorting wine by color

Categorizing by alcohol content and more

How Wine Happens

Discovering differences among grape varieties

Viticulture 101: Understanding what affects grape growth and development

Examining vinification: The making of wine

Visiting Wineries for a Firsthand Look

Chapter 2: Getting Familiar with Wine Tastes and Names

Savoring the Nuances in Taste among Grape Varieties

A primer on white grape varieties

A primer on red grape varieties

How Wines Get Their Names

Naming by grape

Naming by place

Naming in other, less common ways

Chapter 3: Buying Wine

Surveying Your Options of Wine Retailers, Large and Small

Supermarkets, superstores, and so on

Wine specialty shops

Choosing a Fabulous Wine Merchant

Evaluating selection and expertise

Considering customer service

Judging wine storage conditions

Shopping for the Perfect Bottle: Decoding Labels

First things first: Distinguishingbetween front and back

The mandatory content

Some optional label lingo

Getting Help from the Wine Merchant

Chapter 4: Getting the Cork Out (And All That Comes After): Serving Wine

Opening the Bottle

Clearing the way to the cork

Removing the cork from atypical bottle of vino

Releasing the bubbly: Leave the corkscrew behind!

To Aerate or Not to Aerate (Or, Does Wine Really Breathe?)

Considering the need for aeration

Removing sediment before aerating (if applicable)

Aerating wine for the right amount of time

Getting Temperature Right

Believe It or Not, Glasses Do Matter

Size

Shape

Glass thickness

Washing your wine glasses

After the Party’s Over: Storing Leftover Wine

Chapter 5: For Slurps and Gurgles: Tasting and Describing Wine

Knowing What to Do Before You Sip

Starting with the eyes

Savoring the scent

Bringing the Tongue into the Act

Feeling the basic taste sensations

Working nose and mouth: The flavor dimension

Answering the Quality Question: What’s a Good Wine?

Evaluating the major characteristics

Decoding the critics’ numerical systems and developing your own

Keeping Track of Tastings

Taking notes when you taste

Finding your own descriptive style

Chapter 6: Pairing Food and Wine

How Wine and Food Work Together

Tannic wines

Sweet wines

Acidic wines

High-alcohol wines

Pairing for Complement or Contrast

Some Tried-and-True Pairings

Chapter 7: Ordering Wine When You’re Dining Out

How Restaurants Sell Wine

The story behind house wine

Premium pours

The (anything but) standard wine list

Special, or reserve, wine lists

Conquering the Wine List

Paying attention to your first impression: A primer on presentation

Knowing what information you’ll likely encounter

Surveying the list with an eye toward organization

Ordering the bottle you want

Asking for help selecting a wine

Handling the Wine Presentation Ritual

Chapter 8: The Urge to Own: Collecting Wine

Creating a Wine-Collecting Strategy

Planning for a balanced inventory

Selecting good wines for collecting

Getting the Wines You Want

Buying wines at auctions

Buying wine via catalog or Internet

Creating a Home for Your Wines

A wine cellar, most likely a do-it-yourself project

A portable wine cave, if space is limited

Keeping Track of Your Inventory

Book II: France: A Wine Superstar

Chapter 1: French Wine Today

Natural Talents: Climate and Soil

Climate ups and downs

The dirt on France’s old dirt

Time’s role in France’s wine

French Wine-Think: Understanding Terroir

The Variety of French Wine

The colors of France

Dry, sweet, and bubbly

Collectable to highly affordable

Regional characters

The grapes of France

France’s Wine Laws: The Opposite of Laissez-Faire

Privileged versus ordinary locales

Small is beautiful

Understanding a French Wine Label

Degrees of pedigree within the AOC ranks

The French wine label

Chapter 2: Exploring Bordeaux’s Range

Understanding What Makes Bordeaux a Wine Lover’s Heaven

Seeing (predominantly) red throughout Bordeaux

Recognizing red Bordeaux as a blend of grape varieties

The High-Rent Districts for Red Bordeaux

The Left Bank style

The Right Bank style

Classified Information: Ranking Red Bordeaux

The 1855 Classification

The Graves/Pessac-Léognan classification

The St.-Emilion classification

Trying Red Bordeaux on a Budget

Cru Bourgeois wines of the Médoc and Haut-Médoc

Petits châteaux and generics

Other Bordeaux districts

Drinking Red Bordeaux, the Right Way

Exploring the Range of White Bordeaux

Two white grapes — and neither is Chardonnay

Top producers of white Bordeaux

Drinking white Bordeaux

Sauternes and Barsac: Appealing to Your Sweet Tooth

Delving into the Sauternes wine district

Looking at the grape varieties that go into sweet Bordeaux wines

Breaking down Sauternes and Barsacs by quality and price

Recommending bargain dessert wines

Enjoying sweet Bordeaux

Chapter 3: Burgundy, Queen of France

The Where, Why, and What of Burgundy

A bit about Burgundy: Soil, grapes, and production scale

A complex quartet: Burgundy’s districts

The name game: Burgundy’s AOC system

Burgundy Royalty: Côte d’Or

The Côte d’Or wine villages

Côte d’Or wines in the market

Côte d’Or producers to buy

The Côte Chalonnaise: Affordable Burgundies

Côte Chalonnaise appellations

Côte Chalonnaise producers to look for

Chablis, from Chablis, France — A Distant Part of Burgundy

Chablis appellations

Good Chablis producers

Recommended Chablis vintages

Everyday Whites: The Mâcon

Mâcon’s appellations and wines

Mâcon producers to buy

Chapter 4: Beaujolais, the Fun Red

What Makes Beaujolais

The Beaujolais terroir

The Gamay grape

The winemaking technique

From Frivolous to Firm: An Overview of Beaujolais Wines

Beaujolais and Beaujolais-Villages

Beaujolais Nouveau

Cru Beaujolais

A Look at Beaujolais Producers and Prices

Chapter 5: Robust Rhône Reds and Unique Whites

Exploring the Rhône Valley: Two Regions in One

The continental North

The Mediterranean-like South

Narrowing the Lens on the Northern Rhône

Wide-ranging reds

Uncommon whites

Spotlighting the Southern Rhône

Châteauneuf-du-Pape

Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc

Côtes du Rhône

Côtes du Rhône-Villages

Gigondas

Vacqueyras

Lirac and Tavel

Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise and Rasteau

Chapter 6: Champagne: The World’s Greatest Sparkling Wine

The Skinny on This Supreme Bubbly

Zeroing in on the Champagne Region

Chalking success up to Champagne’s climate and soil

Recognizing the grape varieties used in Champagne

Mapping the four grape-growing districts

Surveying Champagne Styles

Translating years and quality into Champagnespeak

Highlighting the nontraditional Champagnes

Categorizing Champagne from dry to sweet

Selecting a Bottle of Bubbly: Knowing Producers and Their Styles

Matching the houses and their styles

Figuring out the styles of the best grower-producer Champagnes

Chapter 7: Other Wine Regions of France

Alsace: Location, Location, Location

Surveying the grapes of Alsace

Examining the region’s range of wines

Appreciating Alsace’s wine gems

Highlighting top Alsace producers

Touring the Loire Valley and Its Unique Wines

The Upper Loire: Sauvignon Blanc’s spiritual home

The Central Loire: A duo of diverse districts

The Western Loire: Makers of Muscadet

Discovering Wines from the South of France

Languedoc-Roussillon: The mother wine region of France

Provence: The beautiful home to eight AOC zones

Book III: Italy: Small but Mighty

Chapter 1: The Big Picture of Italian Wine

Diverse Conditions, Diverse Wines

Getting the lay of the wine land

Describing modern Italian wine styles

Exploring the reds, the whites, and beyond

Italy’s Curious Grape Varieties

Unveiling the native talents

Checking out the immigrants and migrants

Meeting Italy’s Major Grapes

Reds aplenty

Overachieving whites

Grasping an Italian Wine Label

The name game

Putting faith in the DOC

More label lingo

Chapter 2: Perusing Piedmont’s Wines

Drinking In the Majesty of Piedmont

The wines of Piedmont

The grapes of Piedmont

Sampling the Wines of the Alba Area

Barolo

Barbaresco

Barbera, Dolcetto, and Nebbiolo of Alba

Roero and Roero Arneis

Five other Alba DOCs

Exploring the Wines of Southeastern Piedmont

Asti DOCG

Barbera d’Asti

Other varietal wines

Gavi DOCG

Other wines of Piedmont’s southeast

Getting to Know Northern Piedmont’s Various Offerings

Carema and Caluso

Vercelli and Novara hills wines

Other Piedmont Wines

Chapter 3: Finding Sparkling Wines and More in North-Central Italy

Lombardy Has It All

The Valtellina: Nebbiolo’s most austere face

Oltrepó Pavese: Sparkling wines and more

Franciacorta: Sparklers with style

Lake Garda: Fresh lake wines

Emilia-Romagna: One Region, Two Identities

Emilia’s beloved Lambrusco wines

The hillside wines of Emilia

The wines of Romagna

Chapter 4: Northeastern Italy: Where Whites Rule

Trentino-Alto Adige: One Region, Two Cultures

Introducing the wines of Trentino

Getting to know the wines of Alto Adige

The Veneto: Verona to Venice

Tasting Verona’s major wines

Sampling the wines of the Central Hills

Exploring the wine offerings on all sides of Venice

Friuli-Venezia Giulia: The Great White Way

The wines of Collio and Colli Orientali del Friuli

The wines of Isonzo and Carso

Other Friuli DOC wines

Chapter 5: Tuscany: Checking Out Chianti and Other Tuscan Reds

Taking In the Big Picture of Tuscany

Exploring the Land of Chianti

The range of Chianti wines

Chianti Classico

Chianti

Pomino, San Gimignano, and other Chianti neighbors

Monumental Montalcino

Brunello di Montalcino

Rosso di Montalcino

Sant’Antimo

The “Noble Wine” of Montepulciano

Tuscany’s “Hot” Coast

Bolgheri

Val di Cornia

Grosseto

Super-Tuscan Wines — The Winds of Change

Chapter 6: Getting Acquainted with Central Italy’s Wines

Umbria: The Inland Region

Orvieto

Torgiano

Sagrantino di Montefalco

Recommended Umbrian wineries

Marche on the Adriatic

Tasting Verdicchio

Sampling Rosso Cònero and Rosso Piceno

Suggesting some Marche wine producers

Mountainous Abruzzo

Montepulciano d’Abruzzo

Trebbiano d’Abruzzo

Controguerra

Abruzzo wine producers worth supporting

Latium: Rome’s Region

The hills south of Rome

The hillsides and coastal regions of northern Latium

Latium’s southern coast

The Ciociaria hills of southeastern Latium

Latium’s top wine producers

Chapter 7: Southern Italy: “The Land of Wine”

Campania: Revival Begins

Meeting the wines of Avellino

Checking out wines of the coastal hills and islands around Naples

Sampling in southern Campania’s two DOC zones

Scoping out the most established zones of Campania’s northern hills

Listing the Campania producers to know

Puglia: Italy’s Wine Barrel

The Salento Peninsula

The Trulli district

Central Puglia

The northern plains

Recommended Puglia producers

Mountainous Basilicata

Rugged Calabria

Chapter 8: Sicily and Sardinia: Focusing on Quality

Sicily Leaves the Past Behind

Marsala, far from “just cooking wine”

Sicilian dry (though sometimes sweet) wines

Sweet DOCs in Sicily

A Sicilian wine shopping list

Sardinia Stands Alone

Sardinia’s regionwide DOC wines

The copious wines of Cagliari, Sardinia’s capital

Other Sardinian wines

Sardinian producers to watch for

Book IV: California and Elsewhere in North America

Chapter 1: Introducing California Wines

Covering the Bases in Wine Production

The color and type spectrums

The wallet spectrum

The packaging spectrum

Leading the Market in Popularity

Golden Resources in the Golden State

California climate

Soil matters

The human factor

Chapter 2: California’s Major Wine Regions: An Overview

Location Matters

Napa Valley: Wine Country’s Hollywood

Mapping Napa Valley

Discovering Napa’s key wines

Sonoma County: Hardly an Also-ran!

An idyllic wine region

Sonoma’s signatures: Pinot Noir and Zinfandel

Sonoma’s wines: Something for everyone

More Key Wine Regions

Up the North Coast to Mendocino and Lake Counties

Down the Central Coast

Southern California

Inward and upward

Chapter 3: Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and Sparkling Wines

Chardonnay: The Wine that California Made Famous

The taste of California Chardonnay

For richer or for value

Where Chardonnay Grows in California

Cool, coastal, classic regions

Warm regions for everyday Chardonnays

Recommending Top Chardonnay Producers

Sauvignon Blanc: Always a Bridesmaid, Never a Bride

Three styles of California Sauvignon Blanc

Taste trumps price

Regions for Sauvignon Blanc

Napa originals

Sonoma takes on Sauvignon

Top Sauvignon Blancs from other regions

Names to Trust in Sauvignon Blanc

Presenting California’s Sparkling Wines

Characterizing California bubbly

Looking at the French- and California-owned brands

Recommending some of California’s sparkling wines

Chapter 4: California’s Standout Red Wines

Hailing the California Cab, a World-Class Red

Tasting California Cabernet

Wine All-in-One For Dummies®

by Ed McCarthy, Mary Ewing-Mulligan, Maryann Egan, Tony Aspler, and Barbara Leslie

Wine All-in-One For Dummies®

Published by111 River St.Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774