Wine All-in-One for Dummies Book

Introduction 1

About this Book 1

Conventions Used in This Book 2

Foolish Assumptions 2

How This Book Is Organized 3

Book I Understanding Wine 3

Book II France: A Wine Superstar 3

Book III Italy: Small but Mighty 3

Book IV California and Elsewhere in North America 4

Book V Australia and New Zealand: Powerhouses of the Southern Hemisphere 4

Book VI And More Wine Regions! 4

Icons Used in This Book 4

Where to Go from Here 5

Book I Understanding Wine 7

Chapter 1 From Vine to Bottle: The Hows and Wines 9

Surveying the Landscape: Wine Categories 9

Sorting wine by color 10

Categorizing by alcohol content and more 14

How Wine Happens 16

Discovering differences among grape varieties 17

Viticulture 101: Understanding what affects grape growth and development 19

Examining vinification: The making of wine 20

Visiting Wineries for a Firsthand Look 23

Chapter 2 Getting Familiar with Wine Tastes and Names 25

Savoring the Nuances in Taste among Grape Varieties 25

A primer on white grape varieties 26

A Primer on red grape varieties 30

How Wines Get Their Names 34

Naming by grape 34

Naming by place 35

Naming in other, less common ways 37

Chapter 3 Buying Wine 41

Surveying Your Options of Wine Retailers, Large and Small 42

Supermarkets, superstores, and so on 42

Wine specialty shops 43

Choosing a Fabulous Wine Merchant 44

Evaluating selection and expertise 45

Considering customer service 45

Judging wine storage conditions 46

Shopping for the Perfect Bottle: Decoding Labels 47

First things first: Distinguishing between front and back 48

The mandatory content 48

Some optional label lingo52

Getting Help from the Wine Merchant 54

Chapter 4 Getting the Cork Out (And All That Comes After): Serving Wine 57

Opening the Bottle 57

Clearing the way to the cork 58

Removing the cork from a typical bottle of vino 58

Releasing the bubbly: Leave the corkscrew behind! 62

To Aerate or Not to Aerate (Or, Does Wine Really Breathe?) 64

Considering the need for aeration 64

Removing sediment before aerating (if applicable) 65

Aerating wine for the right amount of time 66

Getting Temperature Right 66

Believe It or Not, Glasses Do Matter 68

Size 68

Shape 69

Glass thickness 71

Washing your wine glasses 71

After the Party's Over: Storing Leftover Wine 72

Chapter 5 For Slurps and Gurgles: Tasting and Describing Wine 73

Knowing What to Do Before You Sip 73

Starting with the eyes 74

Savoring the scent 75

Bringing the Tongue into the Act 76

Feeling the basic taste sensations 77

Working nose and mouth: The flavor dimension 79

Answering the Quality Question: What's a Good Wine? 80

Evaluating the major characteristics 81

Decoding the critics' numerical systems and developing your own 83

Keeping Track of Tastings 85

Taking notes when you taste 85

Finding your own descriptive style 86

Chapter 6 Pairing Food and Wine 87

How Wine and Food Work Together 87

Tannic wines 89

Sweet wines 89

Acidic wines 90

High-alcohol wines 90

Pairing for Complement or Contrast 90

Some Tried-and-True Pairings 92

Chapter 7 Ordering Wine When You're Dining Out 93

How Restaurants Sell Wine 94

The story behind house wine 94

Premium pours 95

The (anything but) standard wine list 96

Special, or reserve, wine lists 96

Conquering the Wine List 96

Paying attention to your first impression: A primer on presentation 97

Knowing what information you'll likely encounter 98

Surveying the list with an eye toward organization 99

Ordering the bottle you want 100

Asking for help selecting a wine 102

Handling the Wine Presentation Ritual 102

Chapter 8 The Urge to Own: Collecting Wine 105

Creating a Wine-Collecting Strategy 105

Planning for a balanced inventory 106

Selecting good wines for collecting 106

Getting the Wines You Want 108

Buying wines at auctions 109

Buying wine via catalog or Internet 110

Creating a Home for Your Wines 114

A wine cellar, most likely a do-it-yourself project 115

A portable wine cave, if space is limited 117

Keeping Track of Your Inventory 118

Book II France: A Wine Superstar 119

Chapter 1 French Wine Today 121

Natural Talents: Climate and Soil 121

Climate ups and downs 123

The dirt on France's old dirt 124

Time's role in France's wine 125

French Wine-Think: Understanding Terroir 125

The Variety of French Wine 126

The colors of France 127

Dry, sweet, and bubbly 127

Collectable to highly affordable 127

Regional characters 128

The grapes of France 129

France's Wine Laws: The Opposite of Laissez-Faire 131

Privileged versus ordinary locales 131

Small is beautiful 133

Understanding a French Wine Label 133

Degrees of pedigree within the AOC ranks 134

The French wine label 136

Chapter 2 Exploring Bordeaux's Range 137

Understanding What Makes Bordeaux a Wine Lover's Heaven 137

Seeing (predominantly) red throughout Bordeaux 139

Recognizing red Bordeaux as a blend of grape varieties 139

The High-Rent Districts for Red Bordeaux 140

The Left Bank style 141

The Right Bank style 142

Classified Information: Ranking Red Bordeaux 143

The 1855 Classification 143

The Graves/Pessac-Léognan classification 144

The St.-Emilion classification 145

Trying Red Bordeaux on a Budget 146

Cru Bourgeois wines of the Médoc and Haut-Médoc 147

Petits ch&ahat;teaux and generics 149

Other Bordeaux districts 150

Drinking Red Bordeaux, the Right Way 153

Exploring the Range of White Bordeaux 154

Two white grapes - and neither is Chardonnay 155

Top producers of white Bordeaux 155

Drinking white Bordeaux 156

Sauternes and Barsac: Appealing to Your Sweet Tooth 157

Delving into the Sauternes wine district 158

Looking at the grape varieties that go into sweet Bordeaux wines 158

Breaking down Sauternes and Barsacs by quality and price 159

Recommending bargain dessert wines 160

Enjoying sweet Bordeaux 161

Chapter 3 Burgundy, Queen of France 163

The Where, Why, and What of Burgundy 163

A bit about Burgundy: Soil, grapes, and production scale 164

A complex quartet: Burgundy's districts 166

The name game: Burgundy's AOC system 166

Burgundy Royalty: C&ohat;te d'Or 168

C&ohat;te d'Or wines in the market 171

C&ohat;te d'Or producters to buy 172

The C&ohat;te Chalonnaise: Affordable Burgundies 174

C&ohat;te Chalonnaise appellations 175

C&ohat;te Chalonnaise producers to look for 176

Chablis, from Chablis, France - A Distant Part of Burgundy 177

Chablis appellations 178

Good Chablis producers 180

Recommended Chablis vintages 181

Everyday Whites: The M&ahat;con 181

M&ahat;con's appellations and wines 181

M&ahat;con producers to buy 183

Chapter 4 Beaujolais, the fun Red 185

What Makes Beaujolais 185

The Beaujolais terroir 186

The Gamay grape 186

The winemaking technique 187

From Frivolous to Firm: An Overview of Beaujolais Wines 187

Beaujolais and Beaujolais-Villages 188

Beaujolais Nouveau 188

Cru Beaujolais 189

A Look at Beaujolais Producers and Prices 190

Chapter 5 Robust Rh&ohat;ne Reds and Unique Whites 193

Exploring the Rh&ohat;ne Valley: Two Regions in One 193

The continental North 194

The Mediterranean-like South 195

Narrowing the Lens on the Northern Rh&ohat;ne 197

Wide-ranging reds 198

Uncommon whites 202

Spotlighting the Southern Rh&ohat;ne 205

Ch&ahat;teauneuf-du-Pape 206

Ch&ahat;teauneuf-du-Pape Blanc 207

C&ohat;tes du Rh&ohat;ne 208

C&ohat;tes du Rh&ohat;ne-Villages 209

Gigondas 210

Vacqueyras 210

Lirac and Tavel 211

Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise and Rasteau 212

Chapter 6 Champagne: The World's Greatest Sparkling Wine 213

The Skinny on This Supreme Bubbly 213

Zeroing in on the Champagne Region 214

Chalking success up to Champagne's climate and soil 216

Recognizing the grape varieties used in Champagne 217

Mapping the four grape-growing districts 217

Surveying Champagne Styles 219

Translating years and quality into Champagnespeak 220

Highlighting the nontraditional Champagnes 223

Categorizing Champagne from dry to sweet 225

Selecting a Bottle of Bubbly: Knowing Producers and Their Styles 226

Matching the houses and their styles 227

Figuring out the styles of the best grower-producer Champagnes 228

Chapter 7 Other Wine Regions of France 231

Alsace: Location, Location, Location 231

Surveying the grapes of Alsace 233

Examining the region's range of wines 234

Appreciating Alsace's wine gems 236

Highlighting top Alsace producers 238

Touring the Loire Valley and Its Unique Wines 240

The Upper Loire: Sauvignon Blanc's spiritual home 241

The Central Loire: A duo of diverse districts 244

The Western Loire: Makers of Muscadet 251

Discovering Wines from the South of France 252

Languedoc-Roussillon: The mother wine region of France 252

Provence: The beautiful home to eight AOC zones 256

Book III Italy: Small but Mighty 259

Chapter 1 The Big Picture of Italian Wine 261

Diverse Conditions, Diverse Wines 261

Getting the lay of the wine land 263

Describing modern Italian wine styles 264

Exploring the reds, the whites, and beyond 265

Italy's Curious Grape Varieties 265

Unveiling the native talents 265

Checking out the immigrants and migrants 266

Meeting Italy's Major Grapes 267

Reds aplenty 267

Overachieving whites 268

Grasping an Italian Wine Label 270

The name game 270

Putting faith in the DOC 272

More label lingo 273

Chapter 2 Perusing Piedmont's Wines 275

Drinking In the Majesty of Piedmont 275

The wines of Piedmont 276

The grapes of Piedmont 277

Sampling the Wines of the Alba Area 278

Barolo 278

Barbaresco 281

Barbera, Dolcetto, and Nebbiolo of Alba 284

Roero and Roero Arneis 286

Five other Alba DOCs 287

Exploring the Wines of Southeastern Piedmont 290

Asti DOCG 290

Barbera d'Asti 291

Other varietal wines 292

Gavi DOCG 294

Other wines of Piedmont's southeast 295

Getting to Know Northern Piedmont's Various Offerings 296

Carema and Caluso 296

Vercelli and Novara hills wines 298

Other Piedmont Wines 300

Chapter 3 Finding Sparking Wines and More in North-Central Italy 303

Lombardy Has It all 303

The Valtellina: Nebbiolo's most austere face 305

Oltrepó Pavese: Sparkling wines and more 306

Franciacorta: Sparklers with style 307

Lake Garda: Fresh lake wines 309

Emilia-Romagna: One Region, Two Identities 310

Emilia's beloved Lambrusco wines 311

The hillside wines of Emilia 312

The wines of Romagna 315

Chapter 4 Northeastern Italy: Where Whites Rule 317

Trention-Alto Adige: One Region, Two Cultures 317

Introducing the wines of Trentino 319

Getting to know the wines of Alto Adige 322

The Veneto: Verona to Venice 324

Tasting Verona's major wines 326

Sampling the wines of the Central Hills 330

Exploring the wine offerings on all sides of Venice 332

Friuli-Venezia Giulia: The Great White Way 334

The wines of Collio and Colli Orientali del Friuli 336

The wines of Isonzo and Carso 338

Other Friuli DOC wines 339

Chapter 5 Tuscany: Checking Out Chianti and Other Tuscan Reds 341

Taking In the Big Picture of Tuscany 341

Exploring the Land of Chianti 344

The range of Chianti wines 344

Chianti Classico 345

Chianti 347

Pomino, San Gimignano, and other Chianti neighbors 348

Monumental Montalcino 350

Brunello di Montalcino 352

Rosso di Montalcino 353

Sant' Antimo 353

The "Noble Wine" of Montepulciano 354

Tuscany's "Hot" Coast 356

Bolgheri 356

Val di Cornia 357

Grosseto 357

Super-Tuscan Wines - The Winds of Change 358

Chapter 6 Getting Acquainted with Central Italy's Wines 361

Umbria: The Inland Region 361

Orvieto 363

Torgiano 364

Sagrantino di Montefalco 365

Recommended Umbrian wineries 366

Marche on the Adriatic 366

Tasting Verdicchio 366

Sampling Rosso Cònero and Rosso Piceno 367

Suggesting some Marche wine Producers 369

Mountainous abruzzo 369

Montepulicano d'Abruzzo 370

Trebbiano d'Abruzzo 371

Controguerra 372

Abruzzo wine producers worth supporting 372

Latium: Rome's Region 372

The hills south of Rome 373

The hillsides and coastal regions of northern Latium 375

Latium's southern coast 377

The Ciociaria hills of southeastern Latium 377

Latium's top wine producers 378

Chapter 7 Southern Italy: "The Land of Wine" 379

Campania: Revival Begins 379

Meeting the wines of Avellino 381

Checking out wines of the coastal hills and islands around Naples 383

Sampling in southern Campania's two DOC zones 385

Scoping out the most established zones of Campania's northern hills 385

Listing the Campania producers to know 387

Puglia: Italy's Wine Barrel 387

The Salento Peninsula 388

The Trulli district 391

Central Puglia 392

The Northern plains 393

Recommended Puglia producers 394

Mountainous Basilicata 394

Rugged Calabria 395

Chapter 8 Sicily and Sardinia: Focusing on Quality 397

Sicily Leaves the Past Behind 397

Marsala, far from "just cooking wine" 399

Sicilian dry (through sometimes sweet) wines 400

Sweet DOCs in Sicily 403

A Sicilian wine shopping list 404

Sardinia Stands Alone 405

Sardinia's regionwide DOC wines 407

The copious wines of Cagliari, Sardinia's capital 408

Other Sardinian wines 408

Sardinian producers to watch for 410

Book IV California and Elsewhere in North America 411

Chapter 1 Introducing California Wines 413

Covering the Bases in Wine Production 413

The color and type spectrums 413

The wallet spectrum 414

The packaging spectrum 414

Leading the Market in Popularity 415

Golden Resources in the Golden State 416

California climate 416

Soil matters 418

The human factor 419

Chapter 2 California's Major Wine Regions: An Overview 421

Location Matters 421

Napa Valley: Wine Country's Hollywood 422

Mapping Napa Valley 423

Discovering Napa's key wines 425

Sonoma County: Hardly an Also-ran! 428

An idyllic wine region 429

Sonoma's signatures: Pinot Noir and Zinfandel 430

Sonoma's wines: Something for everyone 430

More Key Wine Regions 431

Up the North Coast to Mendocino and Lake Counties 432

Down the Central Coast 434

Southern California 439

Inward and upward 440

Chapter 3 Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and Sparkling Wines 443

Chardonnay: The Wine that California Made Famous 444

The taste of California Chardonnay 444

For richer or for value 445

Where Chardonnay Grows in California 445

Cool, coastal, classic regions 447

Warm regions for everyday Chardonnays 447

Recommending Top Chardonnay Producers 448

Sauvignon Blanc: Always a Bridesmaid, Never a Bride 450

Three styles of California Sauvignon Blanc 450

Taste trumps price 452

Regions for Sauvignon Blanc 452

Napa originals 453

Sonoma takes on Sauvignon 454

Top Sauvignon Blancs from other regions 455

Names to Trust in Sauvignon Blanc 455

Presenting California's Sparkling Wines 457

Characterizing California bubbly 458

Looking at the French-and California-owned brands 458

Recommending some of California's sparkling wines 459

Chapter 4 California's Standout Red Wines 461

Hailing the California Cab, a World-Class Red 462

Tasting California Cabernet 462

Making a California original from a Bordeaux grape 463

Listing favorite Cabernets 464

Noting other California Cabernets 470

Merlot, Sometimes a Contender 471

Merlot's up, down, and Sideways reputation 471

The taste of California Merlot 472

Regions that excel with Merlot 473

The Secret's in the Bordeaux Blend 475

Combining strengths 476

Selecting key brands of Bordeaux-style blends 477

Zinfandel: Big, Bold, and Berry 479

Surveying the spectrum of Zin styles 479

Venturing into Zinfandel country 480

Recommending California's best Zins 481

California Pinot Noir: From Obscurity to Overnight Fame 484

The general style 485

Local styles 486

California's Pinot Noir regions 487

Chapter 5 Major Wine Regions in the Rest of North America 495

Ocean-Influenced Oregon 496

A tale of two Pinots 496

Who's who in Willamette Valley 497

Two other Oregon wine regions 498

The United States' Second-Largest Wine Producer: Washington State 498

The grapes that thrive and the wines they make 499

Washington's wine regions 500

Top Washington wine producers 501

New York, America's Unsung Wine Hero 503

Revealing the key wine regions of the Empire State 503

Listing the best of New York's wineries 504

Oh, Canada 504

Ontario: Well-positioned for icewine 506

British Columbia: White wine is tops 506

Book V Australia and New Zealand: Powerhouses of the Southern Hemisphere 507

Chapter 1 Australian and New Zealand Wines: A Success Story 509

Getting Acclimated in Australia and New Zealand 510

Meeting Growing Demand with Diverse Wines 510

Zoning Out: Australia's Wine Regions 511

Breaking Up New Zealand 512

Decoding Australian and New Zealand Wine Labels 513

Chapter 2 New South Wales: Home to Established Wineries and Upstarts 515

Getting to Know the Hunter Valley and its Wines 515

Taking stock of the Hunter's top grape varieties 516

Sampling the best the Lower Hunter offers 517

Heading for Broke (Fordwich) wines 518

Discovering the wines of the Upper Hunter 518

Exploring the Wine Bounty of Mudgee 519

Noting Mudgee's stylistic reds and shining whites 520

Checking out Mudgee's top wineries 521

Shining the Spotlight on New South Wales's Lesser-Known Wine Regions 521

Discovering more than oranges in Orange 522

Feeling the heat in Cowra 522

Growing grapes for others in Tumbarumba 523

Hightailing it to the Hilltops 524

Uncorking in Canberra 525

Chapter 3 Taking In the Diverse Range of Wines from Victoria and Tasmania 527

The Yarra Valley: First in the Region 527

Reviewing Yarra's typical wine styles 528

Listing top picks from Coldstream 529

Presenting choice wines from Yarra Glen 530

Victoria's Wine-Diverse Heartland: The Central Zone 531

Sipping the wines of Central Victoria 531

Introducing Goulburn Valley and its standout producers 533

Tasting the best of Bendigo 534

Hunting down quality in Heathcote 534

Producing a variety of varietals in the Central Victorian Mountain District 535

Traveling to Pyrenees in Victoria's Wild, Wild West 535

Navigating Your Way through Northeast Victoria 536

Celebrating Northeast Victoria's specialties 537

Rutherglen, land of full-bodied reds and fortified wines 538

King Valley, from the plains to the hills 539

Alpine Valley, going up and cooling down 539

Heating Up: The Northwest Region 540

Sampling the best from the northwest 540

Looking out over the Murray-Darling region's landscape of vines 541

Down by the Sea: The Mornington Peninsula 542

Traveling down into Dromana 542

Rising up on Main Ridge 543

Centering on Red Hill South and Merricks 543

Meandering around Moorooduc 544

Macedon: Bubbling Up to Meet You 544

Tasmania: Wines of a Cool Climate 545

North coast novelties 546

East coast charmers 546

Hobart's finest 546

Chapter 4 The Wine Regions of South and South West Australia 549

McLaren Vale: Reaping the Benefits of a Mediterranean Climate 549

Coriole wines to cellar and drink now 551

Top-notch Primo vino 551

Unique names from d'Arenberg 552

The best from town-based wineries 552

Well-priced wines from the Vale 553

Shiraz to stash from Clarendon 553

Big, Bold, and Brassy: The Barossa Valley 553

Charles Melton Wines 555

Elderton Wines 555

Leo Buring Wines 555

Orlando-Wyndham 556

Penfolds Wines 556

Peter Lehmann Wines 557

Richmond Grove 557

Rockford Wines 558

St Hallett 558

Saltram Wines 558

Seppeltsfield Winery 559

Turkey Flat Vineyards 559

Wolf Blass Wines 559

Yalumba Winery 560

Small, Subdued, and Sassy Eden Valley 560

Henschke Wines 561

Irvine 562

Mountadam Vineyards 562

Tin Shed Wines 562

Classy Clare Valley 563

Annie's Lane 564

Grosset Wines 564

Knappstein Wines 564

Leasingham Wines 564

Taylors Wines 565

Tasting along the Limestone Coast 565

Picking the best grape varieties 566

Spending some time in Coonawarra 567

South West Australia: Beaches, Forests, and Sunshine 568

Cooling winds and varied soils in Margaret River and Geographe 568

Vigor in the Blackwood Valley 569

Cooling altitudes and rich soils in Pemberton and Manjimup 569

The grapes that Margaret River and her neighbors do best 570

Recommended producers of the South West zone 570

Chapter 5 New Zealand's Islands and Their Wines 573

Discovering Diversity on New Zealand's North Island 573

Finding good Chardonnay and Merlot in and around Auckland 574

Proudly producing white wines in Gisborne 576

Delving into Hawke's Bay, east of the ranges 577

Checking out the rugged Wairarapa Region and its Pinot Noir 578

Liquid Distinction from New Zealand's Cool South Island 580

Finding much to admire in Marlborough 581

Cooling off in Canterbury 582

Heading south to Otago 583

Book VI And More Wine Regions! 585

Chapter 1 Intriguing Wines from Old Spain 587

Rioja Rules the Roost 587

Ribera del Duero: Drawing New Eyes and Palates to Spain 589

Mountainous Priorato and Its Rich Reds 590

Five Other Spanish Regions to Watch 591

Penedés 591

Rías Baixas 592

Navarra 592

Toro 593

Rueda 593

Sherry: A Misunderstood Wine 594

Entering the Jerez triangle 594

Exploring the duality of Sherry: Fino and oloroso 594

Aging communally 595

Turning two into a dozen (at least) 596

Storing and serving Sherry 598

Recommending specific Sherries 598

Presenting Montilla: A Sherry look-alike 600

Chapter 2 Portugal: Port Wine and Beyond 601

Port: The Glory of Portugal 601

Home, home on the Douro 602

A Port style for every persuasion 602

Suggestions for storing and serving Port 604

Recommended Port producers 605

Portugal's "Green" White: Vinho Verde 606

Noteworthy Portuguese Red Wines 606

Madeira: A Long-Lived Island Wine 607

Seeing how Madeira's made 608

Enjoying the timeless taste of Madeira 609

Presenting the varieties that make Madeira 610

Chapter 3 Finding Little-Known Treasures in Greece 611

Glimpsing the Grapes of Greece 611

Introducing Greece's Wine Regions and the Wines They Yield 613

Understanding the Naming Regulations of Greek Wines 614

Chapter 4 A Sampling of Wines from Germany, Austria, and Hungary 615

Germany: Europe's Individualist 615

Riesling and its cohorts 616

Germany's wine laws in a nutshell 616

The wine regions of Deutschland 619

Austria's Exciting Whites (And Reds) 622

Hungary: A Promising Wine-Producing Nation 623

Chapter 5 From South America to South Africa: Rounding Out the Top Wine Nations 625

Chile Discovers Itself 626

Checking out Chile's wine Regions 626

Taking a closer look at Chilean taste and style 628

Argentina, a Major League Player 629

Meeting Mendoza and San Juan - and the grapes they favor 629

Naming Argentine producers worth knowing 630

Embarking on a South African Wine Safari 631

South Africa's principal wine regions 631

Steen, Pinotage, and company 632

Index 635