Carolyn Hammond's new book 1000 Best Wine Secrets is a very approachable, informative source of wine knowledge and experience for interested beginners and seasoned wine lovers.
Well above books like "Wine for Dummies", Wine Secrets immediately sets out to put you in control of your wine experience. It is an engaging read spiced with sensual metaphors, revealing anecdotes, and thankfully a complete absence of "wine snobbery." This book is fun to read and will leave you with greater confidence to explore the vast world of wine.
Carolyn has written for Decanter Magazine, The Times of London, Wine & Spirit International magazine, as well as Maclean's magazine, The Toronto Star and The Province in Canada. She holds a Diploma in Wine and Spirits from the Wine & Spirit Education Trust in the UK.
She also shares her wine knowledge on the website The Wine Tribune, which holds the objective of giving "wine drinkers an unbiased, trustworthy source for tasting notes and news, and to provide tips to cut the risk of disappointment when buying wine"
A very worthy purpose I would say.
"1000 Best Wine Secrets is designed as an easy-to-reference guide that will help anyone drink better wine, whether they are a budding enthusiast or experience sommelier." Sourcebooks
Secret 127, found in Chapter 6 - Tasting Wine Like a Pro, suggests an easy way to remember how to taste wine with credibility. "Follow the three senses from the top of the face down -- eyes to look, nose to smell, and mouth to taste."
Applying that formula to this well researched and written book I will say:
To the eye it is very pleasing. The layout, graphic design, type and organization of data is clear and brilliant as a good wine should be. The index is comprehensive making this book a very useful reference for all wine lovers.
To the nose it is enticing, the table of contents reveals fully body and complexity sharing a scent of what is to come. 1,000 "secrets" in 30 chapters. Apple to Tar. It is all here and my pallet is anxious to taste.
To the mouth it rolls across the tongue, reading aloud, and swirls about the mind with one tasty sip after another. Each secret is one paragraph long never boring or tedious. Not pedantic, always respecting your personal taste, budget and sensibility.
The book does reveal how subjective discussions of wine can be and there are points that I might debate. This is inevitable. Nevertheless I found many great "secrets" or tips.
One favorite that I fully embrace is number 966. "Don't just read about it drink it." And that is what I am going to do right now. Cheers.
1000 Best Wine Secrets
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Things to do, places to see, with food and booze
hi all :)
Posted by: | 09/21/2008 at 10:53