Wine For Dummies

Wine enthusiasts: raise a glass!

The global wine market has expanded rapidly in the past few years and is forecasted to increase through 2019.   Consumption, new wine styles, online wine purchasing, and a growing younger population of wine enthusiasts are all contributing factors.

In Wine For Dummies, the authors—both recognized wine authorities and accredited Certified Wine Educators—share their expertise, revealing the latest on what''s in, what''s out, and what''s new in wine.  Featuring information on both classic and cutting-edge wines, it’s packed with everything you need to hold your own in tasting rooms, shops, and beyond!  

• Includes updated information on navigating wine shops and selecting wines in restaurants
• Covers the latest expert advice on buying wine online thanks to the online retail boom
• Provides updated vintage charts and price guidelines
• Offers information on trends in wine, including packaging innovations such as wine in a can, kegs, and boxes 

Whether you’re a beginner or intermediate wine enthusiast, this is your no-nonsense guide to choosing wine, understanding wine lists, exploring new varieties, serving, sharing, and more!

Introduction 1

About This Book 1

Foolish Assumptions 3

Icons Used in This Book 3

Beyond the Book 4

Where to Go from Here 4

Part 1: Getting Started with Wine 5

Chapter 1: Wine 101 7

How Wine Happens 7

What Color Is Your Appetite? 9

(Not exactly) white wine 10

Red, red wine 11

Rosé wines 13

Choosing your color 13

Other Ways of Categorizing Wine 15

Table wine 16

Dessert wine 17

Sparkling wine (and a highly personal spelling lesson) 17

Chapter 2: A Matter of Personal Taste (Buds) 19

The Special Technique for Tasting Wine 19

Savoring a wine’s appearance 20

The nose knows 21

The mouth action 22

Parlez-Vous Winespeak? 25

Deconstructing a wine’s taste 26

The flavor dimension 28

The Quality Issue 29

What’s a good wine? 30

What’s a bad wine? 32

Chapter 3: Pinot Envy and Other Secrets about Grape Varieties 35

The Importance of Grape Varieties 35

Of genus and species 36

A variety of varieties 36

How grapes vary 37

Grape royalty 39

A Primer on White Grape Varieties 40

Chardonnay 40

Riesling 41

Sauvignon Blanc 41

Pinot Gris/Pinot Grigio 42

Other white grapes 42

A Primer on Red Grape Varieties 44

International superstars 44

Local heroes 46

Other red grapes 49

Chapter 4: Wine Label Lingo 51

The Wine Name Game 51

Grape names and place-names 52

Hello, my name is Chardonnay: Varietal wines 52

Hello, my name is Bordeaux: Place-name wines 53

Wines named in other ways 57

Decoding the Language of the Label 58

The mandatory sentence 58

Indications of origin 60

Some optional label lingo 63

Chapter 5: Winemaking Matters 67

Vineyard Jargon, Winemaking Talk 67

The World of Viti-Vini 68

Vine-growing variations 69

Winemaking wonder words 70

Even More Winemaking Terms 72

Part 2: Wine and You: Up Close and Personal 77

Chapter 6: Buying Wine to Drink at Home 79

Buying Wine Can Give Anyone the Jitters 80

Wine Retailers, Large and Small 80

Supermarkets, superstores, and so on 81

Specialty wine shops 82

Online merchants 82

Criteria for Choosing Wine Merchants 83

In the wine shop 84

On the Internet 86

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