Wine For Dummies : 4th Edition

A new edition of one of the most popular and bestselling wine books on the market! The art of winemaking may be a time-honored tradition dating back thousands of years, but today, wine is trendier and hotter than ever. Wine sales in the U.S. have doubled in only a decade. Now, wine experts and authors Ed McCarthy and Mary Ewing-Mulligan have revised their popular Wine for Dummies"“665, 000 copies sold in previous editions"“and deliver an updated, down-to-earth look at what"™s in, what"™s out, and what"™s new in wine. Beginners wondering what the fuss is about will get a thorough grounding in the basics of reds and whites, and the grape varieties and regions that spawn them: Bordeaux, Burgundy, and others. They"™ll find answers to questions that the snobs don"™t dare ask, such as: Is wine fattening? How many kinds of glasses do you need, anyway? How do you smell wine? (Step 1. Be bold. Stick your nose right in.) But they"™ll also wonder what kind of world they"™ve stumbled into when the book starts to tackle the good stuff: Why does everyone have pinot envy? Can magnets and crystals make wine less tannic? Does wine really breathe? And that"™s before getting to the bubbling beauties and medieval sweets: champagne, sparkling wines, sherry, port, and more. Wine lovers of all stripes will enjoy the authors"™ reality check on wine jargon as well as their all-new recommendations on the very best wines; their updated reports on the wines of France and Italy; and new information on emerging wine regions in Argentina, Greece, and Chile. This relaxed, readable guide also covers U.S. regional wines, such as those of California, Oregon, and Washington; updates on vintage charts and prices; and the latest on labeling, ordering wine from out of state, collecting wine, and much more.