Americans are drinking more alcoholic beverages than ever, andalmost 30 percent of tipplers name wine as their drink of choice.Recent studies have touted the health benefits of wine-drinking. Sowhy is wine so intimidating? The sheer numbers and types of wines?The wine snobs with their arcane terminology? The French with theirinsufferable Frenchiness? Demystifying oenophilia and offering more than a few laughs alongthe way, Jennifer Rosen’s THE CORK JESTER?’S GUIDE TO WINE is acollection of fast, funny anecdotes and informative lessons sure toentertain both the vintage idiot and the savvy sipper. In the book’s introduction, Rosen offers a typically frankexplanation of her approach: "A wise winemaker told me, ‘Drinkingwine with a sommelier is like making love to a gynecologist: it’sbetter if they don?’t tell you everything they know.’ Instead, Ioffer a series of bite-sized stories; Trojan horses filled withfacts programmed to infiltrate and lodge in your brain, with noeffort on
