Enjoying wine—November 4, 2011
Red, white, sweet, dry, Cabernet and Chardonnay are some terms related to wine choices. Would you like to know more about wines such as how to select the right wine for your meal, how to set up a wine tasting, or how to acquire great wine at a reasonable price? If so, Hastings Public Library can help.
One of the most useful wine books is “The Wine Trials 2011.” The premise of the book is that when wine critics and others taste wine without knowing its cost or reputation they evaluate more accurately, and actually prefer cheaper wines. The first part explains how the blind testing was done. Following that is a listing of the inexpensive and readily available wines that won the taste tests in each category, and reviews of each of the winners. The reviews indicate the category, style, price, and suggested food pairings for each. There is also a picture of each bottle so you will know what you are looking for at your favorite wine shop.
Have you always wanted to take the Windows on the World wine course, but couldn’t afford the time or money? If so, the library has the perfect book for you. The title is “Windows on the World Complete Wine Course” by Kevin Zraly. This book provides the entire wine course to you, minus the teachers and tasting. You can learn how to match food with wine, what varieties of grapes produce which wines, how to store your wine properly, which wines the experts think are the best, and what criteria they used to rate wines.
A more basic book is “Wine for Dummies” by Ed McCarthy and Mary Ewing-Mulligan which gives you a speed course in wines of the world, and includes practical information such as how to buy and store wine. It also has a section answering the most common questions people have about wine, and includes a glossary of wine terms.
If you want to get even more basic “Wine Savvy” by Heidi Yorkshire is the book for you. It’s a short, easy read that includes all the data you need to know to start your wine adventure.
A good buying guide is Andrea Robinson’s “2010 Wine Buying Guide.” Studying the data for every wine listed in the book would make for tedious reading. I suggest instead using the book to check out “Andrea’s Top Wines for Everyone,” “Andrea’s Top Budget Wines,” and the “Cuisine Compliments.” The book I love most in this section is Jill Silverman Hough’s “100 Perfect Pairings.” This author gives a description of each of the major types of wine, and includes recipes for scrumptious looking (photos included) foods to pair with that category of wine. The summer garden galette (pair with pinot noir), the tilapia with gazpacho salsa (pair with rose), and the pork medallions with orange hollandaise and hazelnuts (pair with viognier), are my three favorites recipes.
These are just a few of the exciting books about wine that are available at Hastings Public Library.
