StandardNet

Fine wines of Utah? You betcha … Beehive State's honey, fruits deliver some … StandardNet "There is no point in trying to do something that does not work, and grapes are about the soil and the climate being right," said Jay Yahne, who started making homemade wine for his own use 15 years ago, and presented his first commercial batch last …

Home cooking, Andrew Zimmern style – Minneapolis Star Tribune

MiamiHerald.com

Home cooking, Andrew Zimmern style Minneapolis Star Tribune The very thought of, say, a glass of wine, even one perfectly matched with a grilled gorilla steak, makes him shudder. "Brings back too many bad memories," he says. Zimmern, who famously went from dishwasher to head chef at the now-defunct Cafe Un Deux … Bizarre Foods Twin Cities and Los AngelesMpls.St.Paul Magazine (blog) all 9 news articles »

The Wines of the Northern Rhône
For anyone who wants to understand the full story that lies within a glass of wine, this book opens up the inner secrets of the geology, the vineyards, the wines, and the growers of the northern Rhône Valley in France. Home to the spicy Syrah, or Shiraz, and the floral Viognier grapes, the northern Rhône Valley is one of France’s oldest wine-growing regions; its appellations include Hermitage, Côte-Rôtie, Condrieu, Crozes-Hermitage, St-Joseph, and Château-Grillet. With evocative descriptions and marvelous insights, this accessible, elegant book, the culmination of more than thirty years following the Rhône, is a comprehensive and authoritative survey of the various estates, winemakers, and their wines.
Taking a deeper look at the northern Rhône than Livingstone-Learmonth’s highly regarded previous volumes on the Rhône Valley, this revised and up-to-date edition covers more producers and includes more in-depth information on the various terroirs, the histories of the wines, and the methods for making the wines. Livingstone-Learmonth concentrates on letting the producers explain their outlook and methods and includes much local color.

The Wines of the Northern Rhône includes
* Assessments of thousands of wines, with guide dates onwhen to drink and how long to age them
* Winemakers’ views on what foods best accompany their wines
* New vineyard maps for each appellation
* Detailed descriptions by growers discussing the effect of different soils on their wines
* Precise information on how each domaine makes its wines
* New research on the historical links between Hermitage and Bordeaux

Customer Review: Technical and Linear
I just finished reading Kermit Lynch’s Adventures on the Wine Route and was so enthralled by the chapter on the Rhone Valley that I searched for more books on the subject. I purchased Wines of the Northern Rhone, which has a foreward actually written by Kermit Lynch, but that’s where the romance ended for me. Learmonth’s writing style is nowhere nearly as engaging as Lynch’s. If Lynch’s writing is a sandwich with fresh ingredients slathered in homemade aioli, Learmonth is cafeteria boloney; dry and flavorless. The pages are filled with technical data including charts of rainfall in centimeters and dull reviews of the wines he’s tasted that most of us can’t afford.

Customer Review: Great book for those who like northern Rhone wines
Wonderfully informative. This book has become my most trusted reference for the northern Rhone. It is well written and informative. Mades me feel I am there. While about wine the information about people and places adds an import aspect. I bought two more and gave them to friends I knew would enjoy all the details and great information.

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Social Scene: Wine & Dine for the Arts Albany Times Union Were you Seen at the Wine & Dine for the Arts Grand Gala in the Hotel Albany on Saturday, Jan. 14, 2012? (Joe Putrock/Special To The Times Union) Were you Seen at the Wine & Dine for the Arts Grand Gala in the Hotel Albany on Saturday, Jan. 14, 2012? … and more »

Small Talk: Help solve the mystery — Follow the clues to the CSI wine-tasting … – Anniston Star

Small Talk: Help solve the mystery — Follow the clues to the CSI wine-tasting … Anniston Star The 2012 annual wine-tasting dinner hosted by the board of directors of Children's Services Inc. is scheduled for Jan. 28. The event benefits our community's Parris Home for Children. The fun begins at Classic on Noble at 6 pm Chairpersons for this … and more »

Jancis Robinson’s Wine Course: A Guide to the World of Wine
The enormous variety of wines available today can be baffling even to an experienced buyer. Anyone who enters a wine store is immediately confronted by rows and rows of racks filled with a myriad of choices. Where do you begin when all you want is a reasonably priced quality wine to serve with dinner? Jancis Robinson can make anyone an expert, or at least an informed buyer, in short order. In this comprehensive guide to the wine-producing countries of the world, she captures the flavor of each region’s wines and presents her personal recommendations on the best names from around the world, with thirty-two completely new pages covering the latest developments in South America, South Africa, and Eastern Europe. Robinson also describes the distinctive characteristics of hundreds of different grape varieties and studies the traditional and innovative methods employed in the creation of great wines. A fully updated vintage guide makes selection even easier.

Dedicated to ensuring that you get the most out of every glass, Jancis Robinson’s Wine Course explains how to taste and store wine, what to serve on special occasions at home, and how to order the best value from a restaurant wine list. Full of infectious enthusiasm and heaps of personal tips, this book will soon have you reaching for the corkscrew.

Customer Review: Everything You Need To Know About Wine
What a great book! This book teaches you as much or as little as you want to know about wine. It takes the confusion out of tasting new wines and shopping for wine is now fun. You could study it like a textbook and become well versed in the subject or learn what you need to know to make drinking wine more enjoyable.

Customer Review: Not The Best For Starters
If you are looking for a good book to start out with, to learn the basic ABC’s of wine, then I would reccomend The Complete Idiot’s Guide To Wine by Phillip Seldon. This one (Jancis Robinson’s) however is good for people like myself who already know the basics (the distinguishing characteristics of grape varieties, the main regions, how to make reasonablly good food/wine pairings, etc.)
In other words, it’s not the easiest book to follow.

Another note- she makes her disgust of Spanish wines known in the opening paragraph on page 222 when she says “If it (Spain) had Germany’s love of efficiency, or France’s respect for bureaucracy, Spain might be sending us oceans of judiciously priced wine made expressly for the international market. But Spain is an anarchic jumble of districts and regions…and heartbreakingly awful human constructions, and has to be treated as such by the wine enthusiast.”
I found those comments to be misleading, as Spain to me is a model exporter of high quality wines. Just about any Rioja or Tempranillo wine imported and that goes for less than $…is of fine quality. That is my opinion of course. Another semi-complaint is that there was not enough material on Argentina (only 6 paragraphs) which I found to be a shame, since Argentina has very unique and delicious wines.

Overall this is good, as I said earlier, for those who already have a basic knowledge.

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There are fine wines from the Biltmore in N.C. Monroe News Star All of the grapes for this wine were grown in Sonoma County, Calif. This wine was created in stainless steel to give it a clean and crisp feeling. A little of the wine was treated with a secondary fermentation to bring the crisp acids to levels that … and more »

Wine Tour of the Finger Lakes: Where to Stop, What to Taste, and What to Buy in New York State’s Premier Wine Region

Customer Review: referred to it in between each winery stop on a 5 day vacation
this was a fantastic trip – the first time we toured an area specifically for wine tasting, and became comfortable stopping into wineries and interacting with those from the industry – the recommendations were fantastic and we lent this book to another couple who were also grateful for it’s recommendations

Customer Review: Ready for wine tour of the Finger Lakes
As I prepare and pack in order to move to the Finger Lakes region of NY state, I enjoyed reading Wine Tour, which further reinforces my love of the area. I have visited a few wineries and look forward to my permanent residence and a greater dedication of exploring the wine industry there. The book is well organized, informative and has many beautiful photographs of the region and its wineries. It is must read before wine touring.

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Good-value wines perfect for post-holiday budgets
Belt-tightening time. Problem is, it’s hard. The fine bottles you may have enjoyed recently raised the bar. Simple wines that satisfied in November can fizzle in January. It’s all relative. The same phenomenon lies behind a cardinal rule of wine

Michael Broadbent’s Pocket Vintage Wine Companion

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Small Plates, Perfect Wines: Creating Little Dishes with Big Flavors
Small plates in the form of Middle Eastern mezze, Spanish tapas, Mexican antojitos, and Venetian cicchetti are usurping traditional entrée-driven meals by offering greater selection and gastronomic fulfillment. To satisfy this growing niche, cookbook author Lori Lyn Narlock presents 50 delicious small-plate recipes and complementary wine pairings from the culinary experts at the Kendall-Jackson Wine Center, including celebrated chef Justin Wangler and winemaster Randy Ullom.

·In addition to specific chapters on salads, vegetables, meat, seafood, and desserts, Narlock includes sample party menus accompanied by preparation plans, as well as tips on buying and serving wine, planning and executing entire menus, sample table settings and presentation ideas, and more. More than 50 appetite-inspiring four-color photographs illustrate Small Plates, Perfect Wines: Creating Little Dishes with Big Flavors.

Instead of languishing in a culinary quandary this holiday, consider flavorful pairings like Asparagus with Melted Brie served with sauvignon blanc or Duck and Spinach Empanadas with Persimmon Chutney complemented by a glass of pinot noir.

Customer Review: I LOVE This Cookbook
I love this cookbook. The recipes are amazing! Among my favorite recipes are the Pork Saltimbocca With Pan Sauce, the Seared Tuna with Hazelnuts and Pink Peppercorns on Couscous, the Molasses-Almond Shrimp on Spicy Cabbage Salad and the Balsamic-Glazed Potatoes and Onions. Everything I’ve made from Small Plates, Perfect Wines so far has been very delicious! I had a dinner party recently and cooked only from this cookbook. The party was a great success. Along with each recipe are wine parings. I’d highly recommend this cookbook over others in the same category. It’s a winner.

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Oil, gold and fine wine outstrip the FTSE The Independent Oil, gold and fine wine outstripped the FTSE in 2011, the index of the 100 most valuable companies having fallen 5.6 per cent over the year. Fine wine grew only marginally but that comes off the back of two years of 30 per cent growth that generated …

The Taste of New Wine
Miller’s candid and honest life-changing message challenges indifference and creates an exciting sense of spiritual renewal and adventure. With a refreshing absence of religious jargon, he points the way out of the “me-centered” quagmire of recent years and offers a pattern of integrity and openness in our relations with God and one another.

Customer Review: A great winemaker —
What a relief to find this book is still widely available! Keith Miller brings his lively personality, strong mind, and journalist’s eye for the powerful details of life to the matter of honest, satisfying Christian life “in the real world.” He gives me hope that not only is it possible — even when there are setbacks and failings — but it is often delightful and inspirational. It’s encouraging to see how that happens in a completely secular business setting (he worked for a petroleum engineering company before becoming I think a fulltime writer- teacher) where fools aren’t suffered gladly, and where one can’t hide fakery from the co-workers.

Customer Review: Presbyterian Journal says “Sell your bed for this one!”
Presbyterian Journal says “Sell your bed for this one!” in the blurbs on the back cover. The foreword by Elton Trueblood describes it as a constructively critical book. Keith Miller is refreshingly honest in the way few men dare to be about his shortcomings in his quest to be a decent Christian man and in his demands for the same kind of honesty from others in the church. A breath of fresh air to read!

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Wine–a gentleman’s game: The adventures of an amateur winemaker turned professional

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The Wine Tasting Party Kit: Everything You Need to Host a Fun & Easy Wine Tasting Party at Home
Whether it’s a casual afternoon in the backyard or a more formal soir e, a wine tasting party is fun and educational for everyone from novices to sophisticated sippers. Within this all-inclusive kit are the elements to be a terrific host, including cloth wine bottle covers, tasting score pads, a cheat sheet, glass markers, and an entertaining book that introduces you to the ins and outs of tasting wine in a comfortable, festive, social setting your own home.

Includes:
– 64-page illustrated book
– Tasting notepads
– Wineglass markers
– Six reusable linen wine bottle covers
– “Cheat sheet” of tasting terms

Customer Review: Very Fun
This kit is perfect for beginners. I didn’t have a clue of how to get started in planning a party and this kit took the guess work out of EVERYTHING. However, it is very interactive and I reccomend keeping your guest list small (4-5 people/4-5 bottles).

Customer Review: Lives up to title
The Wine Tasting Party Kit was a real hit and included six reusable cloth bags to hide the wine bottles, rating sheets, and wine glass stem labels. The enclosed book is very basic but can provide a jumping off point to select a theme for your party. A good investment if you want to have a series of parties with your friends.

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The Hungarian cookbook;: The pleasures of Hungarian food and wine
“Our appetite for this interesting cuisine, a melding of Germanic, Slavic, Tartar, and Turkish influences, has been whetted by [this] excellent new work.”–New York Times

Customer Review: Hungarian Cooking
Excellent cookbook,interesting addtional information. Recepies close to mum’s. A bit of a shame that it contained no creative photographs but that was known at the time of purchase. The real value is in the authentic recepies.

Customer Review: The Hungarian Cookbook
I bought my first copy of this book over thirty years ago, and even then had to special order it. In the last couple of years I have bought four more copies for family and friends as many of the recipes are identical to those of my mother-in-law whose family was from Croatia. Any one whose family originated in the Slavic area of Europe, including Austria, may find some family favorites in this wonderful, entertaining and reliable book.

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Dreaming of Tuscany: Where to Find the Best There Is: Perfect Hilltowns; Splendid Palazzos; Rustic Farmhouses; Glorious Gardens; Authentic Cuisine; Great Wines; Intriguing Shops;
No country inspires as much fascination as Italy, and no region in Italy inspires as much adoration as Tuscany—for its interior design, art and architecture, fashion, artisans and crafts, food and wine. In Dreaming of Tuscany you’ll experience the essence of a place that dreams are made of, ensuring you’ll get the most out of your experience. Sharing her recommendations of favorite insider places and word-of-mouth gems, best-selling lifestyle author Barbara Milo Ohrbach acts as a guide to food markets, exquisite shops, overflowing antiques markets, not to mention cooking courses, outdoor painting classes, ancient palazzos and small museums. And you can live like a Tuscan once you return home, with this book providing sources for everything from luscious bed linens to peppery olive oil. Dreaming of Tuscany is illustrated with three hundred sumptuous images by photographer Simon Upton. Don’t dream of visiting Tuscany without first reading this book.

Customer Review: Discovering Tuscany
This is a lovely “coffee table” book.

I found the information to be extremely general – book does not contain information that cannot be obtained in any take along travel guide such as Foders, Blue Guide, Cadogan, Rough Guide, etc. In addition, this book is NOT a good reference for individuals who travel on a budget. Most accommodations & ristorantes fall into the 4 star range; expensive.

This book is the perfect book for the pretentious American tourist.

Customer Review: Dreaming of Tuscany
As a frequent traveler to Tuscany, I find this book one of the best. It reflects the romantic and unique part of the world known as Tuscany. Wonderful coffee table book, resource for Tuscany and reading for rainy days.

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