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• by:
• McCarthy, Ed and Ewing-Mulligan, Mary

The art of winemaking may be a time-honored tradition dating back thousands of years, but today, wine is trendier and hotter than ever. Wine sales in the U.S. have doubled in only a decade. Now, wine experts and authors Ed McCarthy and Mary Ewing-Mulligan have revised their popular Wine for Dummies–665,000 copies sold in previous editions–and deliver an updated, down-to-earth look at what’s in, what’s out, and what’s new in wine.

Beginners wondering what the fuss is about will get a thorough grounding in the basics of reds and whites, and the grape varieties and regions that spawn them: Bordeaux, Burgundy, and others. They’ll find answers to questions that the snobs don’t dare ask, such as: Is wine fattening? How many kinds of glasses do you need, anyway? How do you smell wine? (Step 1. Be bold. Stick your nose right in.)

But they’ll also wonder what kind of world they’ve stumbled into when the book starts to tackle the good stuff: Why does everyone have pinot envy? Can magnets and crystals make wine less tannic? Does wine really breathe? And that’s before getting to the bubbling beauties and medieval sweets: champagne, sparkling wines, sherry, port, and more.

Wine lovers of all stripes will enjoy the authors’ reality check on wine jargon as well as their all-new recommendations on the very best wines; their updated reports on the wines of France and Italy; and new information on emerging wine regions in Argentina, Greece, and Chile. This relaxed, readable guide also covers U.S. regional wines, such as those of California, Oregon, and Washington; updates on vintage charts and prices; and the latest on labeling, ordering wine from out of state, collecting wine, and much more.