Wine all in One for Dummies 5 Books in One

Book I: Understanding Wine

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 vinifi cation: The making of wine

Visiting Wineries for a Firsthand Look

 

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

 

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 fi rst: Distinguishing between front and back

The mandatory content

Some optional label lingo

Getting Help from the Wine Merchant

 

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

Opening the Bottle

Clearing the way to the cork

Removing the cork from a typical 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

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 fl avor 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

 

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 fi rst 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

 

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

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

 

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

Classifi ed Information: Ranking Red Bordeaux

The 1855 Classifi cation

The Graves/Pessac-Léognan classifi cation

The St.-Emilion classifi cation

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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 

 

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

 

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

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

 

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

 

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 

Making a California original from a Bordeaux grape 

Listing favorite Cabernets

Noting other California Cabernets 

Merlot, Sometimes a Contender 

Merlot’s up, down, and Sideways reputation 

The taste of California Merlot

Regions that excel with Merlot

The Secret’s in the Bordeaux Blend 

Combining strengths 

Selecting key brands of Bordeaux-style blends 

Zinfandel: Big, Bold, and Berry

Surveying the spectrum of Zin styles

Venturing into Zinfandel country 

Recommending California’s best Zins 

California Pinot Noir: From Obscurity to Overnight Fame 

The general style 

Local styles 

California’s Pinot Noir regions 

Chapter 5: Major Wine Regions in the Rest of North America 

Ocean-Infl uenced Oregon 

A tale of two Pinots 

Who’s who in Willamette Valley 

Two other Oregon wine regions 

The United States’ Second-Largest Wine Producer: Washington State 

The grapes that thrive and the wines they make 

Washington’s wine regions

Top Washington wine producers 

New York, America’s Unsung Wine Hero

Revealing the key wine regions of the Empire State

Listing the best of New York’s wineries

Oh, Canada

Ontario: Well-positioned for icewine

British Columbia: White wine is tops

 

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

Australian and New Zealand Wines: A Success Story

Getting Acclimated in Australia and New Zealand

Meeting Growing Demand with Diverse Wines

oning Out: Australia’s Wine Regions

Breaking Up New Zealand 

Decoding Australian and New Zealand Wine Labels

 

New South Wales: Home to Established Wineries and Upstarts

Getting to Know the Hunter Valley and Its Wines

Taking stock of the Hunter’s top grape varieties

Sampling the best the Lower Hunter offers

Heading for Broke (Fordwich) wines

Discovering the wines of the Upper Hunter

Exploring the Wine Bounty of Mudgee

Noting Mudgee’s stylistic reds and shining whites

Checking out Mudgee’s top wineries

Shining the Spotlight on New South Wales’s Lesser-Known Wine Regions 

Discovering more than oranges in Orange

Feeling the heat in Cowra

Growing grapes for others in Tumbarumba

Hightailing it to the Hilltops

Uncorking in Canberra

 

Taking In the Diverse Range of Wines from Victoria and Tasmania

The Yarra Valley: First in the Region

Reviewing Yarra’s typical wine styles

Listing top picks from Coldstream

Presenting choice wines from Yarra Glen

Victoria’s Wine-Diverse Heartland: The Central Zone

Sipping the wines of Central Victoria

Introducing Goulburn Valley and its standout producers 

Tasting the best of Bendigo

Hunting down quality in Heathcote

Producing a variety of varietals in the Central Victorian Mountain District

Traveling to Pyrenees in Victoria’s Wild, Wild West

Navigating Your Way through Northeast Victoria

Celebrating Northeast Victoria’s specialties

Rutherglen, land of full-bodied reds and fortifi ed wines

King Valley, from the plains to the hills

Alpine Valley, going up and cooling down

Heating Up: The Northwest Region

Sampling the best from the northwest

Looking out over the Murray-Darling region’s landscape of vines 

Down by the Sea: The Mornington Peninsula

Traveling down into Dromana

Rising up on Main Ridge

Centering on Red Hill South and Merricks

Meandering around Moorooduc

Macedon: Bubbling Up to Meet You

Tasmania: Wines of a Cool Climate

North coast novelties

East coast charmers

Hobart’s fi nest

 

The Wine Regions of South and South West Australia

McLaren Vale: Reaping the Benefi ts of a Mediterranean Climate

Coriole wines to cellar and drink now

Top-notch Primo vino

Unique names from d’Arenberg

The best from town-based wineries

Well-priced wines from the Vale

Shiraz to stash from Clarendon

Big, Bold, and Brassy: The Barossa Valley

Charles Melton Wines

Elderton Wines

Leo Buring Wines

Orlando-Wyndham

Penfolds Wines 

Peter Lehmann Wines

Richmond Grove .

Rockford Wines 

St Hallett

Saltram Wines .

Seppeltsfi eld Winery

Turkey Flat Vineyards

Wolf Blass Wines 

Yalumba Winery

Small, Subdued, and Sassy Eden Valley

Henschke Wines

Irvine 

Mountadam Vineyards

Tin Shed Wines

Classy Clare Valley

Annie’s Lane

Grosset Wines

Knappstein Wines

Leasingham Wines

Taylors Wines 

Tasting along the Limestone Coast 

Picking the best grape varieties

Spending some time in Coonawarra 

South West Australia: Beaches, Forests, and Sunshine 

Cooling winds and varied soils in Margaret River and Geographe 

Vigor in the Blackwood Valley

Cooling altitudes and rich soils in Pemberton and Manjimup 

The grapes that Margaret River and her neighbors do best

Recommended producers of the South West zone

 

New Zealand’s Islands and Their Wines

Discovering Diversity on New Zealand’s North Island 

Finding good Chardonnay and Merlot in and around Auckland

Proudly producing white wines in Gisborne

Delving into Hawke’s Bay, east of the ranges

Checking out the rugged Wairarapa Region and its Pinot Noir

Liquid Distinction from New Zealand’s Cool South Island 

Finding much to admire in Marlborough

Cooling off in Canterbury 

Heading south to Otago

 

Book VI: And More Wine Regions!

Intriguing Wines from Old Spain 

Rioja Rules the Roost

Ribera del Duero: Drawing New Eyes and Palates to Spain

Mountainous Priorato and Its Rich Reds

Five Other Spanish Regions to Watch

Penedés

Rías Baixas

Navarra

Toro

Rueda

Sherry: A Misunderstood Wine

Entering the Jerez triangle

Exploring the duality of Sherry: Fino and oloroso

Aging communally 

Turning two into a dozen (at least) 

Storing and serving Sherry

Recommending specifi c Sherries

Presenting Montilla: A Sherry look-alike

 

Portugal: Port Wine and Beyond 

Port: The Glory of Portugal

Home, home on the Douro.

A Port style for every persuasion 

Suggestions for storing and serving Port

Recommended Port producers 

Portugal’s “Green” White: Vinho Verde

Noteworthy Portuguese Red Wines

Madeira: A Long-Lived Island Wine 

Seeing how Madeira’s made

Enjoying the timeless taste of Madeira

Presenting the varieties that make Madeira

 

Finding Little-Known Treasures in Greece

Glimpsing the Grapes of Greece 

Introducing Greece’s Wine Regions and the Wines They Yield 

Understanding the Naming Regulations of Greek Wines

 

A Sampling of Wines from Germany, Austria, and Hungary

Germany: Europe’s Individualist

Riesling and its cohorts

Germany’s wine laws in a nutshell

The wine regions of Deutschland

Austria’s Exciting Whites (And Reds)

Hungary: A Promising Wine-Producing Nation

 

From South America to South Africa: Rounding Out the Top Wine Nations

Chile Discovers Itself

Checking out Chile’s wine regions

Taking a closer look at Chilean taste and style

Argentina, a Major League Player 

Meeting Mendoza and San Juan — and the grapes they favor

Naming Argentine producers worth knowing 

Embarking on a South African Wine Safari

South Africa’s principal wine regions

Steen, Pinotage, and company