Home Wine Cellar Best Quality

According to his bio, Mr. Sims is a master carpenter who runs a wine cellar construction business based near Sacramento. I was initially concerned that this book was going to serve solely as an advertorial for Mr. Sims' business, and it turned out that this fear was well-founded. However, it was only in so much as that the work Mr. Sims does displays a fine and impressive level of craftsmanship, and that the construction of large-scale wine cellars is not for the average lay crafts-person. Anyone interested in constructing a home cellar should take a look at this guide, but should be forewarned. Afterward it will be hard not to want Mr. Sims to oversee your personal project.

The guide starts by taking the reader through the various "hows and whys of wine storage." Much of this information is useful, but fairly basic. The book then leads into various storage options, the pros-and-cons of each option, and how that particular option is constructed. The majority of the explanations are helpful and detailed, while not being overly-complex. The two greatest assets of the guide are the step-by-step DIY instructions (photos included) and the authors awareness that not everyone wants, or is capable of owning, a massive wine cellar. Mr. Sims takes this to heart by providing chapters on installing self-contained (ie. under kitchen counter) storage units, and on tackling space conversions. The information on these conversions is particularly interesting, including how to convert a bookcase, a wardrobe closet, and under-utilized spaces (ie. under a stairwell) to meet specific storage needs.

Although the later parts of the book focus on larger-scale construction projects (the kind it might be best to have a professional contractor tackle), the same step-by-step instructions are there for those projects as well. These instructions cover everything from interior-wall vapor barriers to fine finishing options.

The only qualms I had with this book were with the content and organization of the final chapter. It strays a bit into auxiliary topics such as wine and food pairings, and has section titles like "The Tasting Ritual," which are not completely relevant to the main thesis.

Overall, I give the guide high marks. It is easy to understand and it flows well from chapter to chapter. It is well-organized, all of the photos are high-res, topically relevant and in color, and many of the examples are delightful and inspiring in nature.

This is certainly a book I will keep around and refer back to. Although I have yet to personally tackle any of the construction projects in it, eventually I plan to integrate pieces of this publication into some of my other favorite construction ideas in the building of a future home.Get more detail about Home Wine Cellar.

Foil Cookery: Cooking Without Pots and Pans Get it now!

I bought this book for recipes to use in our backyard fire-ring. After reading through it, I was very disappointed in the recipes offered. I was hoping for more foil-pouch-type recipes. There are a few of these, but the majority are recipes that you can use anywhere, the author just tells you to "make a foil skillet" or a "foil pot". The title of this book should really be "How To Make Foil Cooking Utensils". The editing is also atrocious in this book. A few recipes have sentences repeated, and there are misspellings everywhere. It seems they spent all the production budget on the cover photography and skipped everything else. There are better camp-cooking books out there, try "Roughing It Easy" instead of this dud.Roughing It Easy : A Unique Ideabook for Camping and Cooking Get more detail about Foil Cookery: Cooking Without Pots and Pans.

Tea: 2010 Mini Day-to-Day Calendar Buy Now

I enjoyed this mini calendar as it gave some interesting tibits of information. I didn't rate it a 5 but I did order one for 2010.

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French Wine for Dummies Decide Now

This book gives the reader a good basic knowledge of French wine. An excellent introduction to the field. The references are very good and information is good, the only critisism is that it comes across too silly. I got the impression that the author was almost "talking down" to me. Good overall.Get more detail about French Wine for Dummies.

Artisanal Cocktails: Drinks Inspired by the Seasons from the Bar at Cyrus Right now

If you want to read about inventive, beautiful cocktails made from fresh, local, in-season ingredients this will be a great book for you. We have an incredibly well-stocked bar, have made some of our own infused liquers from time to time, and have a large library of cocktail books but have found very few cocktails in here that we can just whip up. Most take lots of special preparations or the procurement of unusual flowers or herbs. I am hoping we'll be able to make a few this summer--I planted a few varieties of flowers with this book in mind. Get more detail about Artisanal Cocktails: Drinks Inspired by the Seasons from the Bar at Cyrus.

Lowest Price Beer in America: The Early Years--1587-1840: Beer's Role in the Settling of America and the Birth of a Nation

This book was easy to read and very informative. Must buy for any one interested in American beer history.Get more detail about Beer in America: The Early Years--1587-1840: Beer's Role in the Settling of America and the Birth of a Nation.

Low Price A Tale of Two Valleys: Wine, Wealth and the Battle for the Good Life in Napa and Sonoma

This is a story about so-called latte towns, slow food, and trophy houses.

It's also about chickens.

The birds used to roam free throughout the Sonoma, Calif. town plaza (don't you dare call it a town square). Then some kid got attacked by a wild chicken.

People got mad.

One headline screamed: "Rustic reminder or taloned terror?''

The townspeople banned the chickens, but a grassroots movement successfully lobbied to bring them back. It's what people do in Napa and Sonoma. They fight.

They fight over everything. From chickens in the square to housing developments to luxury hotels.

Wine snobs take note: you don't know anything about California's wine country. Aside from the haute first impression, it has southern mores deeper than a magnolia tree.

In the 1970s-era Sonoma, if you shot a deer on your property, you ate it, the book notes. (Although, today, you get arrested.)

Napa, the book says, is a "classic Southern redneck town."

If you're black in Sonoma or Napa, you get pulled over by the cops, a woman tells the author.

"People don't want to talk about it," someone tells the author. "One of these days, Oprah will get pulled over. Then things will change."

The book depicts Sonoma as a town in transition. In danger of becoming Napa. Meaning: more neon, transplants, and trophy houses.

It essentially boils down to this passage: "A big percentage of the local people have never left this valley. That's it, they've never gone anywhere else. They haven't flown anywhere. They've lived here their whole lives and they remember the whole history of things that have changed: when the dirt roads were paved, and when the first car dealership came in. They're very resentful about change."


Both of these towns are interesting. But the author falls short of telling the real story. He seems too obsessed with winning affection. (The author writes passionately about being treated as an outsider after he left to live in the city. He was distraught, which makes me wonder what he left out of the book.)

I read the book with interest. (Local political battles are interesting because they are much more personal.) But many town's across the country fight these same battles. With the same passions. (Or, so I've observed.)

The book leaves an empty feeling. It could have told secrets and exposed a more complete reality. Readers are left with a civics lesson about local government, and the feeling that California's wine country really isn't all that different than any small town in Kansas (aside from the wine and the chickens).

About the chickens.

There was another "incident." The taloned terrors are banned for good. Get more detail about A Tale of Two Valleys: Wine, Wealth and the Battle for the Good Life in Napa and Sonoma.

Save Wine and Philosophy: A Symposium on Thinking and Drinking

sadly this book is broad in scope and though most will find something of interest in it's content,most will just skim by the lions share of it. much is devoted to subjects that wine drinkers never toss around such as the mores of ancient times ala plato.annotations and sub-notes abound making it appear to be a collection of term papers.
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Discount Oregon: The Taste of Wine

Excellent photos with brief and well written text. A wonderful history and future of the Oregon Wine Industry. A must have for anyone wanting to feel the Wines of Oregon.Get more detail about Oregon: The Taste of Wine.

Buying The New York Restaurant Cookbook: Recipes from the City's Best Chefs

The recipes are top noch, but most are labor intensive and use numerous ingredients.If you are a serious cook they are well worth the time and effort.Daniel Boulud's short ribs braised in red wine were wonderful but took much time.The book is worth getting if you only make this recipe and Three Glass Chicken from Chin Chin.Get more detail about The New York Restaurant Cookbook: Recipes from the City's Best Chefs.

Purchase The Best Cellar

Witty and humorous and packed with real-world examples that stay in your memory.Get more detail about The Best Cellar.

Order Good Beer Guide Belgium

I have been both a brewer and aficianado of Belgian ales for many years. I have found this book to be very informative and a must have for a true lover of some of finest made beers in the world. I have really enjoyed this book and I am looking forward in collecting the Good Beer Guide Germany to complement it.Get more detail about Good Beer Guide Belgium.