Lewis Perdue publishes the Wine Investment News and is the founder of Wine Business Monthly and the Insider, the dominant wine trade publications in North America, and he appreciates wine. He KNOWS what he is writing about. Pay attention. This is, perhaps, the best book available for gaining an inside look at the wine industry, learning about wine, and how to start a wine cellar that you find in one concise volume. (There is much more, too; these are just a few of the topics he covers.)There seems to be a mystique surrounding wine in this country. Perdue says, "the greatest barrier to increased wine consumption is wine's snobby image." And the wine industry seems to want to bolster this image. No wonder we Americans have developed a deep-seated prejudice about wine. You're supposed to have red wine with meat and white wine for fish and then there are dessert wines and aperitifs, etc., etc. He tells us to forget the rules; find the kinds of wine you like and enjoy them with what you like. It makes sense.
Want to know a secret? Read the chapter on counterfeit wines. Find out how genuine Champagne is made, the similarity of sparkling wines, and the great switheroo that fooled most of the world (except the French) . And if you want to find something "they" don't want you to know, read about to store and serve wine because the plastic membrane inside the box collapses as wine is dispensed, thus preventing the introduction of air which can oxidize and spoil the wine.
"While the wine box seems like the perfect container . . . in reality most of the boxes you see are adulterated with substantial quantities of added alcohol, water, citric acid, fruit juices, and other flavors and chemicals. . . [U]nder a strict interpretation of [Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms] rules, a box of the sort could contain as little as 38 percent wine." And you (and I) thought we were getting the real stuff!
The most useful information, for me, was finding out about the glut of wine on the market that resulted from the unusually productive grape harvest in 1997. This over supply has led to some fantastic bargains in wine that should last through the next two to three years! There are many remarkable wines available now for under $10 a bottle.
The fun part of the book tells how to go about deciding upon which wines you want to stock; have some friends over, each bringing a bottle to try, and make notes on which ones you like or dislike. Then go out and stock up on the ones you like.
To gain a good understanding of the wine industry and to learn about wine, this is the one book you should read today. REVIEW: Lewis Perdue publishes the Wine Investment News and is the founder of Wine Business Monthly and the Insider, the dominant wine trade publications in North America, and he appreciates wine. He KNOWS what he is writing about. Pay attention. This is, perhaps, the best book available for gaining an inside look at the wine industry, learning about wine, and how to start a wine cellar that you find in one concise volume. (There is much more, too; these are just a few of the topics he covers.)
There seems to be a mystique surrounding wine in this country. Perdue says, "the greatest barrier to increased wine consumption is wine's snobby image." And the wine industry seems to want to bolster this image. No wonder we Americans have developed a deep-seated prejudice about wine. You're supposed to have red wine with meat and white wine for fish and then there are dessert wines and aperitifs, etc., etc. He tells us to forget the rules; find the kinds of wine you like and enjoy them with what you like. It makes sense.
Want to know a secret? Read the chapter on counterfeit wines. Find out how genuine Champagne is made, the similarity of sparkling wines, and the great switcheroo that fooled most of the world (except the French) . And if you want to find something "they" don't want you to know, read about to store and serve wine because the plastic membrane inside the box collapses as wine is dispensed, thus preventing the introduction of air which can oxidize and spoil the wine.
"While the wine box seems like the perfect container . . . in reality most of the boxes you see are adulterated with substantial quantities of added alcohol, water, citric acid, fruit juices, and other flavors and chemicals. . . [U]nder a strict interpretation of [Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms] rules, a box of the sort could contain as little as 38 percent wine." And you (and I) thought we were getting the real stuff!
The most useful information, for me, was finding out about the glut of wine on the market that resulted from the unusually productive grape harvest in 1997. This over supply has led to some fantastic bargains in wine that should last through the next two to three years! There are many remarkable wines available now for under $10 a bottle.
The fun part of the book tells how to go about deciding upon which wines you want to stock; have some friends over, each bringing a bottle to try, and make notes on which ones you like or dislike. Then go out and stock up on the ones you like.
To gain a good understanding of the wine industry and to learn about wine, this is the one book you should read today. END
