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by Lee Higbie (Author), Betty J. Higbie (Editor)
How to Talk about Wine is an unabashed celebration of enjoying wine. Hundreds of quotes, misquotes and factoids about wine spice the book, making it fun to dip into repeatedly. Major categories of wine are described and much of the snobbery surrounding wine is explained. It includes no wine vintage charts, because any such charts would be out of date by the time it is read.
Wine, like art, is so subjective that many self-descried wine experts hide behind snobbery and arcane jargon. How to talk about Wine tries to help you see past these ersatz experts who think they know more about your taste than you do. When experts can easily be deceived by counterfeits it shows that their judgment is based on irrelevant characteristics. If a microscope is required to see that your Picasso is a fake, then artistically it must be as good as a Picasso. If it takes a spectrometer or chromatograph to tell you your wine is different from what it claims to be, then it is a good. This is why you should ignore the experts and enjoy. Well at least ignore them if they pronounce something you like as being meh.
My personal experience, derived at many wine tastings, is that if you can distinguish a glass of red from one of white, you only need confidence and some jargon and nearly everyone will consider you the expert. How to talk about Wine gives you enough vocabulary, both verbal and non, to hold your own at most tasting sessions.
Want to make sense of the thousands of red wines? Check out the two chapters on Reds. Need to know what wine glasses to buy? Probably more than you ever wanted to know, but it's fun to discuss breast glasses. Boss invited you to a wine tasting and all you drink is beer? A quick glance through How to Talk about Wines You Haven't Yet Tasted will prepare you. Concerned because your boyfriend drinks more than you think he should? Maybe you're right, but males do metabolize wine differently from females.
Are you a wine lover who'd like to do a wine tasting with a bunch of friends? Here are tasting charts and placemats that will help everyone organize their thoughts. Never understand the difference between a Port and a punt? Is your novinaphobia hampered by wondering what Brut and Cru mean? Want some quiz questions for a party game? The answers are all here and fun to read.
