Anthony Terlato's story is not simply the usual CEO narrative of achieving business success, nor i it the typical winemaker's tale of pursuing perfection in a glass. Straddling both of those stories, Terlato uses broad strokes to show how one individual had an enormous impact on Americans' wine-drinking habits. Wine journalist Linda Murphy described Terlato in the San Francisco Chronicle as "one of the most accomplished wine personalities on the planet," and readers of this account of a 50-year love affair with wine see this affable, intelligent man at his finest.
Sometimes we just want someone to hand us a bottle of wine. Sometimes we want to learn more about that wine. And sometimes we want to feel something about wine. In Vignette, sommelier Jane Lopes recommends the 100 bottles of wine (and some spirits and beers) to best expand your wine journey, giving you a complete palate education of the important styles, grapes, regions, and flavors of this magical and ever-growing world. Alongside that, you will find imaginative ways to engage with the foundational wine knowledge that underpins a good drinking experience. And then there is Jane's own narrative – the stories of triumph and defeat that comprise her life in wine. It's part memoir and part wine book, but a lot more fun than either alone. These are wines to live with, learn from and take solace in – a joyous, surprising, and revelatory response to that age-old question, "What should I drink?"
"This is the story of Steven Spurrier's rich and eventful life in and around wine. From being inspired by a glass of Cockburn 1908 Vintage Port at thirteen years old, Steven Spurrier joined London's oldest wine merchant in 1964; he bought a wine shop in Paris ("Your wine merchant speaks English"), and organised what became known as the Judgement of Paris, when, at a blind tasting, nine of the best tasters in France placed Californian wines, both white and red, above the greatest French wines, changing the wine world forever. Wine, a way of life is a brilliantly told story of unexpected fame ... and of fortunes lost, stolen, or strayed, a story of sustained optimism in the face of difficulty, and a story of wines and the people who make them. Steven Spurrier was 2017 Decanter Man of the Year, a title generally reserved for the greatest of the world's wine makers, and is currently President of the Wine & Spirit Education Trust. He has recently planted a vineyard in Dorset to produce sparkling wine."--Dust jacekt flap
Join New York Times bestselling author Shauna Niequist as she offers an enchanting mix of funny and vulnerable storytelling in this collection of recipes and essays about the surprising and sacred things that happen when people gather around the table. Bread & Wine is a literary feast about the moments and meals that bring us together. With beautiful and evocative writing, Shauna celebrates the sweet and savory moments that happen when family and friends sit down together. She invites us to see how God teaches and feeds us even as we nourish the people around us, and she explores the ways that hunger, loneliness, and restlessness lead us back to the table again. Part cookbook and part spiritual memoir, Bread & Wine sheds light on: How sharing food together mirrors the way we share our hearts with each other—and with God What it means to follow a God who reveals His presence in breaking bread and passing a cup What happens when we come together, slow down, open our homes, look into one another’s faces, and listen to one another’s stories A satisfying read for heart and body, you’ll want to keep Bread & Wine close at hand all year round. Recreate the meals that come to life in each essay with recipes for any occasion, from Goat Cheese Biscuits and Bacon-Wrapped Dates to Mango Chicken Curry and Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Toffee. For anyone who has found themselves swapping stories over plates of pasta, sharing takeout on the couch, laughing over a burnt recipe, and lingering a little longer for one more bite, this book is for you.
This the memoir of Gerard Basset, OBE, the greatest wine professional of his generation. A school dropout, Gerard had to come to England to discover his passion. He threw himself into learning everything he could about wine, immersing himself in the world of Michelin star restaurants and beginning the steep climb to the top of the career ladder. Tasting Victory charts his business successes: co-founding and selling the innovative Hotel du Vin chain and founding, with his wife Nina, the much-loved Hotel TerraVina. It recounts in detail just how he managed to earn his unprecedented sequence of qualifications; Gerard is the first and only individual to hold the famously difficult Master of Wine qualification simultaneously with that of Master Sommelier and MBA in Wine Business. But it is his pursuit of the most important award of all that forms the core of this book – how, at his seventh attempt, and after a training regime that would shame most Olympic athletes, the fifty-three-year-old Gerard Basset was finally crowned the Best Sommelier of the World, and acknowledged as the greatest sommelier of his generation. Gerard's memoir is not only the story of how a champion is made, but also a record of how fine dining and hospitality changed in England, going from stale and unexciting to the world-leading sector it is today. Above all, it’s a book about succeeding against great odds: in typical fashion it was when he was diagnosed with cancer of the oesophagus that Gerard responded by deciding to write Tasting Victory, which he completed shortly before his death in January 2019.
A highly opinionated, vibrantly illustrated wine guide from one of the country’s most celebrated—and unorthodox—sommeliers and winemakers. In this entertaining, informative, and thoroughly unconventional wine guide, award-winning sommelier, winemaker, and wine educator Andre Mack presents readers with the 99 bottles that have most impacted his life. Instead of just pairing wines with foods, Mack pairs practical information with personal stories, offering up recommendations alongside reflections on being one of the only African-Americans to ever work at the top level of the American wine industry. Mack’s 99 bottles range from highly accessible commercial wines to the most rarefied Bordeaux on the wine list at The French Laundry, and each bottle offers readers something to learn about wine. This window into Mack’s life combines a maverick’s perspective on the wine industry with an insider’s advice on navigating wine lists, purchasing wine, and drinking more diverse and interesting selections at home. 99 Bottles is a one-of-a-kind exploration of wine culture today from a true trailblazer.
Five million visitors a year travel to California's Napa Valley to experience the good life: to taste fine wines, eat fine food, and immerse themselves in other sophisticated pleasures while surrounded by bucolic beauty. Tourism is the world's largest employer, and tourists today want to experience the world through all five senses. Tasting the Good Life tells the story of Napa tourism through the words of the tourists who visit and the men and women who provide the products and services they rely on. The stories of 17 people--from winemaker to vineyard manager, from celebrity chef to wait staff, from hot air balloonist to masseuse--provide extraordinary insight into this new form of tourism and its impact on an iconic American place.
This is a fun but respectful (and very comprehensive) guide to everything you ever wanted to know about wine from the creator and host of the popular podcast Wine for Normal People, described by Imbibe magazine as "a wine podcast for the people." More than 60,000 listeners tune in every month to learn a not-snobby wine vocabulary, how and where to buy wine, how to read a wine label, how to smell, swirl, and taste wine, and so much more! Rich with charts, maps, and lists—and the author's deep knowledge and unpretentious delivery—this vividly illustrated, down-to-earth handbook is a must-have resource for millennials starting to buy, boomers who suddenly have the time and money to hone their appreciation, and anyone seeking a relatable introduction to the world of wine.
A lighthearted companion to the best-reviewed film of the year—a pocket-sized illustrated guide to the locations and wines featured in Sideways including maps, winery listings, tips for drinking wine, and Oscar®-winning dialogue. Yesterday, you didn't know Pinot Noir from film noir. Now, after seeing the marvelous movie Sideways, you are living the life uncorked, and this is the perfect little book to celebrate your own sideways journey. Inside you will find: Wine recommendations, tips for tasting wine, and a list of bottles featured in the film Places and wineries to visit in the Santa Ynez Valley in Santa Barbara County that were featured in the movie Excerpts from the Oscar®-winning screenplay Web sites and information for planning your own trip. This hilarious and useful guide is fully illustrated in color with movie stills, location stills, and delightful drawings by artist Robert Neubecker, who created the film's poster. Originally created as a specialty item for wineries and tourist sites, The Sideways Guide to Wine and Life has been featured widely in articles (USA Today, The New York Times, and Wine Spectator) about the Sideways phenomenon and the surge in Pinot Noir's popularity across the country. Now available in an expanded trade edition for the first time, this is a terrific gift and countertop book year round.
‘Wine is a good, familiar creature and once bitten, that’s it.’ Len Evans Len Evans was bitten early and that was it. He remained an enthusiastically successful promoter of the ‘good, familiar creature’ until his untimely death in 2006. But after almost half a century of a life in wine, he wasn’t keen on getting into the autobiography business. ‘I was asked to write my memoirs,’ he said in 1985, ‘but I didn’t like the idea – for one reason I’m still living them, and for another, my many conceits do not include a belief that my life has been particularly fascinating.’ Well, he didn’t write his memoirs but he left us something else that is uniquely Evans – an anecdotal ramble through a life devoted to the production, promotion – and drinking! – of wine. There are occasional detours to paint a picture of an old mate, tell a wise or hilarious wine tale, or just spin a good yarn. And there was many a yarn garnered in the new Welsh migrant’s progress from ring-barking trees in the bush to washing glasses in a pub, writing comedy sketches and embarking on a career-changing role in a major hotel before becoming established as a restaurateur, vigneron and ultimately – almost inevitably – as Australia’s most influential wine personality. In 1979, Len wrote of a friend’s book, ‘It’s a funny book, it’s a serious book. It contains something for every wine lover.’ Few words could better describe what he has left us in Life’s Too Short to Drink Bad Wine. Praise for Len Evans ‘There was, and will only ever be, one Don Bradman – and only one Len Evans AO, OBE.’ – James Halliday ‘[Len Evans is] the finest judge of wine I know.’ – Hugh Johnson ‘Len Evans has done more to advance the cause of Australian wine than any other individual.’ – The Oxford Companion to Wine
