A Moveable Thirst: Tales and Tastes from a Season in Napa Wine Country Top Quality

I had given up on Napa as too commercial but this book has renewed my interest and I will focus on Napa when I come to CA in April.Get more detail about A Moveable Thirst: Tales and Tastes from a Season in Napa Wine Country.

The Winemaker's Dance: Exploring Terroir in the Napa Valley (Director's Circle Book) This instant

Anyone who enjoys wine and/or Napa Valley will enjoy this book. Great pictures, great explanations and great geology. They even let the winemakers pontificate abit. I really enjoyed it.Get more detail about The Winemaker's Dance: Exploring Terroir in the Napa Valley (Director's Circle Book).

Terroir: The Role of Geology, Climate, and Culture in the Making of French Wines (Wine Wheels) Immediately

Hugh Johnson has inked quite a few good books on wine, including his autobiography, "A Life Uncorked" and the repeatedly revised and updated "World Atlas of Wine" -- the latter having launched many folks on a life-long love affair with all things vinous and/or a career in the wine business. "Terroir," however, was written by James E. Wilson, a geologist and former engineer and executive for Shell Oil. Hugh Johnson penned the foreward to Wilson's book. HUGH JOHNSON IS NOT THE AUTHOR. What makes this book unique is that it offers the perspective of a scientist/geologist who is also a passionate amateur of wine. You might also want to take a look at Jacques Fanet's "Great Wine Terroirs," published in French in 2001 and in translation by the University of California Press in 2004. However, Wilson's book is a more detailed, interesting and groundbreaking work than Fanet's.

Below is a review of the book I originally posted on November 6, 1999, for another Amazon entry for the same book that properly identified the author. Nothing has changed in the past decade:

My shelves groan beneath the weight of scores of new and ancient volumes on French wine, and glitzy new volumes come and go from the catalogs every year -- but this one is somewhat unique among them. James Wilson is a geologist. He also loves French wine. Put the two together and you get this fascinating book about the geology, climate and viticulture of the major wine regions of France, all the way from Alsace to Languedoc. Filled with maps, photos and cross-sections, the book gives you an excellent visual picture of the topography and geology of the great (and not so great) vineyards. There is a glossary of terms for the geologically impaired, although you might still want to run out and get a basic geology text or dictionary to help you slog through the thicker parts of this book. Persevere, and you will gain a deeper understanding of the ways the ineffable term 'terroir' can account for the very different characteristics of wines from vineyards that may be no more than a stone's throw from one another. The same 'terroir' concept explains why the wines of the Loire, Rhone, Champagne, and all of the other major French viticultural regions have evolved as they have -- and why sacrificing their uniqueness to a homogenized 'international style' would be such a tremendous loss. If you love wine, this book will grab your attention. Get more detail about Terroir: The Role of Geology, Climate, and Culture in the Making of French Wines (Wine Wheels).

The Tea Ceremony Best Quality

Some aspects of a culture are deep-seated, traditional and can be puzzling to outsiders. Yet, some knowledge of that aspect will provide the foreigner with an enormous advantage as they try to enter that market and expand their business. In Japan, one very important tradition is the tea ceremony, and the ability of a foreigner to appreciate the role it has played in Japanese society can be a key to business success.
This book contains descriptions of the history of the ceremony, the role it has played in Japan and many of the ways in which it is conducted. Learning the basics of the ceremony is not difficult, yet it can be essential knowledge when meeting and interacting with Japanese business executives. It should be required reading for anyone with a need to prepare for meetings and interactions with executives of Japanese companies.
Get more detail about The Tea Ceremony.

Extremely Pale Rose: A Very French Adventure Get it now!

Perhaps it's because I've never traveled in France or because I'm not a wine lover, but I found this book uninteresting on all levels. The anecdotes were not funny to me nor did the characters ever get fleshed out enough for me to care about them. I'm in the minority here at Amazon.com, so I'll just chalk it up to personal taste rather than slam it as a bad book overall. I don't know if there will be another edition at some point down the road, but if ever there was a book that would have benefited from having photos and maps included, this is it. Maybe I would have felt more affinity for the travelers and their travels if I could have followed their journey and met some of those they encountered through some picures.Get more detail about Extremely Pale Rose: A Very French Adventure.

Pocket Wine 2009 Buy Now

For the last several years I've bought this little book for my husband's stocking, and he always loves it. He finds it really useful and informative, and often consults it before buying wine. It's great to buy a gift that is small, not expensive, and that you know the recipient will love!Get more detail about Pocket Wine 2009.

Frozen Drinks: An A to Z Guide to All Your Frozen Favorites Decide Now

This book has it all from A to Z as the title states. If you are looking for a one stop shop for everything frozen drink, for adults that is, you have come to the right place.

As in Ms. Charmings other book (title follows) which I highly recommend, she gives every drink the funniest name to jazz up the party while the guests put in their order. There are drinks like 99 Chocolate Monkeys, Absinthe Minded, Blushin' Russian, Frozen Tom and Jerry, Pink Panther on ice skates; and long lists of assorted drinks such as Chi Chi's; Chocolate drinks; Daiquiri's; Mojito's and Margarita's; and so many more. This woman knows how to entertain.

The recipes are divine and very, very, cold. Your guests will come begging for you to host the next, and the next, and the next, summer shingdig. Have fun... Responsibly, of course. But you already knew that.

The Everything Cocktail Parties And Drinks Book: The Ultimate Guide to Creating Colorful Concoctions, Fabulous Finger Foods, And the Perfect Setting (Everything: Cooking)Get more detail about Frozen Drinks: An A to Z Guide to All Your Frozen Favorites.

Oz Clarke's Grapes and Wines: The definitive guide to the world's great grapes and the wines they make Right now

Excellent resource for understanding grape origins,vintages, and vintners. Many pearls of knowledge that will lead to exlporing great wines. Get more detail about Oz Clarke's Grapes and Wines: The definitive guide to the world's great grapes and the wines they make.

Lowest Price Jugos para una vida saludable: Una guia para obtener el maximo beneficio de las frutas y los vegetales frescos

El material esta ordenado en capitulos que tratan, cada uno, una enfermedad determinada. La "Diabetes" digamos, y entonces propina las caracteristicas de la enfermedad o afeccion, y luego ofrece sugerencias de cuales frutas o verduras serian apropiadas para hacer jugos. La lista de enfermedades es extensa, y eso es positivo. Mi sugerencia es que si este fuera su primer libro de nutricion, o alimentacion, busque otro. Pero si ya tiene otros, basicos, de conocimiento general, creo que se puede aprovechar, sabiendo que dejar de lado y que utilizar.

En ocasiones las sugerencias que hace la autora, estan en discordancia con otras fuentes del conocimento medico mas autoritativas. Por cuanto se trata, exclusivamente de jugos, sepa que -los jugos- no suple las ingestas de fibra, que son de suma importancia y que se destruyen al licuar, o batir las frutas y verduras.

La traduccion sin lugar a dudas es pesima, hay palabras que ni siquiera estan traducidas... asunto que puede importar a la hora de regalarlo a un amigo o familiar hispano que no tenga conocimientos del idioma ingles.

Un trabajo, bastante bueno acerca del cuidado de la salud es: ?Que comeria Jesus?: El programa vital para comer bien, sentirse bien, y vivir mas EL autor es un medico, y -mas o menos- aborda las virtudes de la "dieta mediterranea" desde una perspectiva cristiana y medica.

Suerte y cuidese.Get more detail about Jugos para una vida saludable: Una guia para obtener el maximo beneficio de las frutas y los vegetales frescos.

Low Price Italian Wine for Dummies

If you are a wine-snob wanna-be, this is the perfect book to start your journey with. Written in an easy to understand language, a non-pretentious approach to a quite challenging topic. Becoming a wine connoisseur can be a very ambitious thing to do, but this book definitely puts things in perspective as far as Italian wines go.
I really enjoy reading it before opening up a bottle of a wine that I'm trying for the first time. Also a nice reference if you plan on starting a fun little wine club with your friends.
If you're interested in knowing more about wine in general, I would also like to recommend the Wine for Dummies which is an extremely good value for the information that is presented.Get more detail about Italian Wine for Dummies.

Save The Wines of the Northern Rhône

This book stands alongside Cote D'or by Clive Coates as one of the greatest wine books of all time. Its all there, vintage, producer and appelation profiles, in depth!Get more detail about The Wines of the Northern Rhône.

Discount Oz Clarke's New Essential Wine Book: An Indispensable Guide to Wines of the World

This was my class text 12 years ago and is still the best beginners book on wine. It covers all the basics with no fluff. Read it twice, once before a vineyard tour and/or wine class and once after. Cheers!Get more detail about Oz Clarke's New Essential Wine Book: An Indispensable Guide to Wines of the World.

Cheapest The Italian Wine Guide: The Definitive Guide to Touring, Sourcing, and Tasting (Dolce Vita)

Planning for a possible trip to Italy, I was looking for a guide to wineries that might be interesting to visit. Out of slim pickings I ordered this book. Published by the Touring Club of Italy, the first thing I noticed was that it contains ads. They do make up a small fraction of the pages, and are grouped between sections, so they aren't too intrusive.

The guide is broken up by region, and for each region there is a discussion of the wines of the region, the areas of the region, and some routes that might be followed to explore the wines. So far, so good. This information, while concise, is helpful. Less helpful is that information on specific wineries is in a separate section at the end of the book, and there are no maps of the wineries. So actually locating wineries to visit means cross referencing the regional section, the associated winery section at the back, and a map. The information is there, and it is possible to do this, but a format that incorporates winery information into the regional sections would have been more convenient.

As I haven't found a better guide, I'll give it a generous four stars. But there is room for improvement in a future edition.Get more detail about The Italian Wine Guide: The Definitive Guide to Touring, Sourcing, and Tasting (Dolce Vita).

Cheap Good Spirits: A New Look at Ol' Demon Alcohol

Good Spirits by Gene Logsdon is a light, easy read, suitable for reading on rainy summer days while swinging on the front porch swing. Best served with cold wine coolers, inexpensive California Chablis, home-made beer and/or gin-&-lemonade.

Gene Logsdon writes, "On the subject of alcohol, hypocrisy is the standard-bearer of public opinion in America.....More evil is done in the name of good than in any other fashion, because the goal of persuading people to act morally invites the idea that the end justifies the means." Lest there be any doubt, Gene Logsdon is strongly against the stigma attached to the (moderate) consumption and production of alcohol.

Logsdon is a good story teller. The first chapter is an unsanitized version of American history that illustrates the origins of our schizophrenic policy on alcohol. The remaining 11 chapters are a mix of three fictionalized "true-life" stories and eight how-to manuals.

Finally, this is not a hard core how-to book. Reading this book will not prepare you to run Seagram's out of business. However, it might give you the gumption to sneak a few jugs of cider into the garage when your wife isn't looking....for scientific experimentation, that is.Get more detail about Good Spirits: A New Look at Ol' Demon Alcohol.

Buying Difford's Encyclopedia of Cocktails: 2600 Recipes

Difford's Encyclopedia of Cocktails is perhaps the finest bar book I own out of at least a dozen others. It is beautifully presented in color with the finest paper and the photography is second to none. There are 2600 different drinks to choose from.
The drink recipes are clear and consice, from the type of glassware, the garnishes, even the amount of ice to use. There is no guessing on weather the drink should be shaken, stirred, layered, muddled, or served on the rocks.
The dictionary section lists are extensive, even giving the history of the specific types described. No, you do not have to be a professional mixologist to understand the book, and it deserves a five star rating.Get more detail about Difford's Encyclopedia of Cocktails: 2600 Recipes.

Buy Wines and Wineries of California's Central Coast: A Complete Guide from Monterey to Santa Barbara

This book provides basic information about a large number of Central Coast wineries, including short histories and descriptions of most of them. I found these to be well done, and even learned a few facts about wineries I was quite familiar with.

I was less impressed with the author's ratings (on a one to five scale) of the wineries. Many (although certainly not all) of the wineries I am familiar with I would have rated differently. There are several potential reasons for this difference of opinion. One is simply that taste in wine varies, and the author and I may like different styles of wine. Another is that smaller wineries will have different wine lists available at different times, and what you think of them will depend on when you visit. Finally, some wineries are improving with time, and others are declining. This book was published mid 2008, but reading between the lines I suspect many of the tastings were two to three years earlier.

As with any such guide, you should use it to identify wineries or tasting rooms that might be interesting to visit, not to tell you if you will like someone's wine. This book provides URLs for wineries with websites, and it is always a good idea to check before a trip to see if they have changed their hours, and if the wines they currently have in release are varietals you might be interested in trying. With most wineries charging for tasting it is entirely reasonable to look at the tasting menu before committing to a tasting, and if it's not interesting just being honest and going elsewhere. You can only do a good tasting at a few wineries in a day, and it's a buyer's market with so many wineries competing for a shot at your business. So read up on options ahead of time, have some alternates available, and don't feel compelled to taste if the menu isn't of interest to you. (By the way, if you're with a friend or loved one, you don't need to choose the same wines. When the menu is something like five of eight you can use a couple of glasses to try the whole list. Or, if only a few appeal to you, buy one glass and taste only the few you care about. Wine tasting isn't about getting plastered on wines you don't really like ...) This book is a useful source for planning tastings in the Central Coast, but not a definitive guide to the area's wine.Get more detail about Wines and Wineries of California's Central Coast: A Complete Guide from Monterey to Santa Barbara.