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
"I want my wines to tell a good story. I want them naturaland most of all, like my dear friends, I want them to speak thetruth even if we argue," says Alice Feiring. Join her as she setsoff on her one-woman crusade against the tyranny of homogenization,wine consultants, and, of course, the 100-point scoring system of acertain all-powerful wine writer. Traveling through the ancientvineyards of the Loire and Champagne, to Piedmont and Spain, shegoes in search of authentic barolo, the last old-style rioja, andthe tastiest new terroir-driven champagnes. She reveals just whatgoes into the average bottle--the reverse osmosis, the yeasts andenzymes, the sawdust and oak chips--and why she doesn’t find muchto drink in California. And she introduces rebel winemakers who areembracing old-fashioned techniques and making wines withindividuality and soul. No matter what your palate, travel the wine world with Feiringand you’ll have to ask yourself: What do I really want in myglass?
