Buying Guides Books - Page 10

From Warehouse to Your House: More Than 250 Simple, Spectacular Recipes to Cook, Store, and Share When You Buy in Quantity

Sally Sampson

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Warehouse club shopping is thrilling. Walking down aisle after fluorescent-lit aisle of impossible-to-pass-up bargains, you fill your cart and tally the money you're going to save. Unloading the boxes and jugs, however, it becomes obvious that, while the way you shop for food may have changed, the scale of your refrigerator (and your stomach!) has not.

So what do you do with the sixteen chicken breasts, the five pounds of oatmeal and the gallon of olive oil that you couldn't afford not to buy? You turn to From Warehouse to Your House: More Than 250 Simple, Spectacular Recipes to Cook, Store and Share When You Buy in Quantity by Sally Sampson, veteran cookbook author, working mom and accomplished warehouse shopper.

Utilizing the fresh and packaged products available at the warehouse clubs and superstores, Sampson's flavorful recipes are simple enough for a weeknight dinner and special enough for entertaining and, if you're cooking for a couple or a small family, portioned so you can eat some, store some and even share some.

Those boneless chicken breasts turn into New-Fangled Classic Chicken Noodle Soup, Curried Chicken Salad for lunch and Moroccan Chicken for the freezer. Three pounds of butter becomes Chipotle Butter to dress up a grilled steak or chicken breast, Cinnamon Butter for your morning toast and Chocolate Chip Cookies: a batch baked right away, a batch of dough for the fridge and a batch for the freezer. And that big box of oatmeal? When you're tired of hot cereal (maybe with some of the Cinnamon Butter?), try the Fruit Crisp or Oatmeal Lace Cookies. From breakfast coffee cakes to soups, appetizers, salads and dressings, sandwiches and entrÉes, Sampson gives the home cook who buys big a wide variety of classic American recipes, as well as international dishes like Mexican Chicken Fajitas, Asian Ribs, Italian pastas and Jamaican Jerk Chicken.

Sampson includes an essential pantry list, and amusing and informative tips and techniques that will help you make the most of your time, your money and your groceries, whether you're cooking for a small family or a small army.

Wine Spectator's Ultimate Guide to Buying Wine, Eighth Edition

Wine Spectator

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 19 Average rating: 2.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Here’s something no wine aficionado should be without. The experts at Wine Spectator magazine have tasted tens of thousands of wines to provide oenophiles with a complete reference of exceptional wines from around the world. Because it guides its readers to only the most satisfying selections, the Wine Spectator, one of the foremost publications on the subject of wine, is valued for the select reviews that appear in each issue. This comprehensive buying guide includes more than 10,000 listings, representing all recent vintages from 40 countries, organized by both wine and country of origin. Each entry includes a full review and rating. Make no mistake—these are the most interesting wines available, all rated on Wine Spectator’s unique 100-point scale. This is the only volume that gathers all the results of the magazine staff’s most current tastings into one convenient resource, and along with our other successful Wine Spectator titles, it’s sure to be a strong addition to our successful wine and spirits category.

Mitchell Beazley Pocket Guide: Wines of California (Mitchell Beazley Wine Guides)

Stephen Brook

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

A remarkably good book about California wine 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Stephen Brook has been a freelance writer for many years specializing in wine and travel books. He won the André Simon Award in 1987 for Liquid Gold: Dessert Wines of the World, and has written several other excellent travel and wine books, including The Complete Bordeaux, Bordeaux: People, Power and Politics and Pauillac: The Wines and Estates of a Renowned Bordeaux Commune.

Brook has been learning about and drinking California wines since the late 1970s: "California wine regions routinely succeed in offering rich, full-bodied, fleshy, opulent wines that make an immediate sensory appeal."

Brook briefly summarizes the history of wine in California, relying mainly on the works of Charles Sullivan, especially A Companion to California Wine. He presents a short, but excellent, summary of the "rules of California wine", asserting that California as an independent country would be the world's fourth largest producer after Italy, France and Spain. (A telling comment: "By and large, California wineries are not keen to dupe the consumer, although the overall laxity of the regulations often makes it easy for an element of deception to creep in.")

Brook devotes about a quarter of the book to the wine regions, a quarter to grapes and types of wines, and the balance to a "Gazetteer" of various producers throughout the state. Throughout he relies on personal relationships with hundreds of grape growers, wine makers, writers and wine lovers.

Brook emphasizes that: "There were no secrets, no mysteries, about wine. My questions, whether about viticulture or winemaking techniques, were readily answered." In a favorable review of the book published in "Decanter" recently, Gerald Asher emphasizes that "this willingness to share information has made it possible for Brook to track changes that amount to a U-turn in all things vinous in the state. When talking to growers elsewhere, I am often amazed to hear them make references to a California that no longer exists - they cannot imagine a place where change can be so rapid and so fundamental."

Brook is quite skeptical about the AVA system, but his summaries are clear and historically accurate. Similarly with his descriptions of the various types of wine; I found his section devoted to Zinfandel particularly enlightening. But the heart of the book is a series of short essays on hundreds of different wineries; there are no tasting notes to speak of, but he captures the styles of wines made by many of these wineries in quite a remarkable way.

For example, I have just finished reading Robert Mondavi's autobiography, Harvests of Joy: How the Good Life Became Great Business, admittedly a book that could have benefited from tighter editing. Brook's four pages captured the essence of Mondavi's story with style and warmth.

It would be fun to quote dozens of these essays; here's part of one favorite just to give you the flavor of the whole:

"Newton's vineyards are not open to the public, which is a great shame since these are arguably the most beautiful in all of California. Peter Newton's wife Su Hua is Chinese, and the terraced vineyards are reminiscent of Chinese landscape paintings, the whole effect enhanced with red-lacquer gateways, wooden pagodas, and other Chinese ornaments. ... Peter Newton told me that Su Hua is now the winemaker, even though she also pursues a separate career in San Francisco. It's perfectly conceivable that this immensely dynamic and talented woman does indeed make the wines. She has been a model, a scientist, designed much of the vineyard and winery buildings, and has formidable expertise as a wine marketer. There is a mysterious personage at Newton called Luc Morlet; he is the director of oenology, but I have never met him and don't know what he does. The team is completed by the consulting services of Michel Rolland, who only advises on his special subject: Merlot."

I agree with Gerald Asher that only a person who finds great pleasure in California wine could have "devoted himself to a study of this magnitude." Best of all, re-reading the book after eight years proves that it still has remarkably strong legs.

Robert C. Ross 2000 2008

Editorial Review:

California wines are recognized as being among the world’s finest—and this guide explains just what makes them so distinctive: a combination of climate, soil, tradition, and innovation. Stephen Brook examines each major region; shows how certain viticultural and wine-making practices are specific to California; and looks at how the principal grape varieties are handled stylistically in different parts of the state. Far from being a dry reference work, this is studded with the vibrant personalities who keep California wines at the forefront of top-quality wine production. Some of the special features include detailed lists of single vineyards—now receiving greater attention from wine-makers—and a gazetteer that features over 630 different wineries, pointing to the best and most interesting wines from each one.

Hugh Johnson's Pocket Wine Book 2006 (Hugh Johnson's Pocket Wine Book)

Hugh Johnson

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 11 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Lees is more? 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

Last weekend my wife asked that I clear some of the debris out of the bookshelves in the library, and as I made my way through my wine books I found an edition of Hugh Johnson's 1990 Pocket Encyclopedia of Wine. Now this isn't exactly equivalent to stumbling on a first edition of Paradise Lost, but it's what passes for palpable excitement in my house. Just as I was sitting down to write a review of the 2006 Pocket Wine Book, this veritable antique magically appeared.

So I naturally set out to see what had changed in the past 16 years. The book is almost exactly the same dimensions-I guess pockets haven't changed much. It will still slip into an interior coat pocket, though it would probably feel somewhat unwieldy there given its 8" length.

How to contrast the two editions? I thought it might be fun to pick a Bordeaux chateau and see what HJ has to say 16 years apart. Let's do one that has no small amount of controversy around it these days, say Chateau Pavie.

1990. Splendidly sited first-growth of 100 acres on the slope of the Cotes. Typically rich and tasty St. E, particularly since 1982.

2006. Splendidly sited first-growth; 37 hectares of mid-slope on the Cotes. Great track record...this is new wave St. Emilion: thick, intense, sweet, mid-Atlantic and the subject of heated debate.

Plus ca change? Hardly. Other than the fact I have no idea what he means by mid-Atlantic (good with crab cakes?), this is what you can expect from the 2006 Pocket Book of Wine. It reminds me of the genie's description of his state in Disney's Alladin-"incredible cosmic power, itty-bitty living space." Translation for this guide: incredible density of information in a tiny package. Also not so sure about the conversion to the metric system, but maybe I wasn't paying attention when the Brits switched over to the dark side.

Let's just pick one more comparison of '90 and '06 at random before we move on. I opened the '06 Guide about 2/3 of the way through and landed on Croatia. There I found a page-and-a-half of definitions and producer descriptions for a region from which it may well be another 16 years before I actually get to try a wine-or want to. HJ has been there and done that. By way of contrast, the 1990 Guide has but two pages dedicated to all of Yugoslavia, including Croatia. There's no separate heading for Slovenia, Bosnia, Serbia, Montenegro or Macedonia like you'll find in `06. Now that's progress.

1990. Dingac. Heavy sweetish red from local Plavic (grape), specialty of the mid-Dalmatian coast.

2006. Dingac. Vineyard designation on Peljesac's steep southern slope. Made from partially dried Plavic Mali, producing a full-bodied jammy red but emerging as a robust and dry red that supports oak and bottle aging. Highly esteemed and expensive. Look for Bura, Kiridzija, Matusko, Milicic, Skaramuca..

So what have we learned? A bunch. Much has changed (understatement of the year) in Croatia, and HJ has chronicled it with both great precision and concision. You get the geography, the grape variety, the nature of the wine and notable producers in a couple of terse phrases. That's hard to do.

What's the secret to this book? It's just crammed with facts, like force-feeding a goose to get foie gras. Here's a partial inventory of what's contained in this diminutive Dionysian dynamo (I must be getting tired):

Vintage reports on 2004 and 2003. Summaries of grape varieties both great and obscure. Wine and food suggestions including a section on cheeses. Suggested wines to drink in 2006. Sections on what must be every wine-growing region in the world, including high-level maps, regional designations, vintage charts, producer profiles, appellation and vineyard descriptions, and terminology definitions. For every standalone producer (eg Antinori): star rating from 1-4; concise color commentary calling out any particularly fine/consistent wines. For a single site, eg Bordeaux chateau: commune, star rating, recent good vintages, vintages for current drinking, brief comments, second wines. A quick reference vintage chart across regions; a small glossary of technical terms; serving temperature recommendations; and an explanation of Hugh Johnson's idiosyncratic scoring system (best score=the whole vineyard, i.e. it's so good I'd just buy the whole damn thing) and more.

If I continue with this review it will soon be longer than the book itself. No doubt: it delivers on what it advertises. Sure it misses some ultra-fine details, but it would be a fantastic reference for someone who doesn't mind carrying it around, an ideal use case, for example, being one of those times you're stuck in an unfamiliar store and just want to find something that won't be awful. Or if you're not that knowledgeable about wine and are willing to suffer the ignominy of pulling out a relatively small and inconspicuous book while you peruse a restaurant wine list. Or if you have no freakin' idea what Ukrainian wine to drink while you're making pysanky, this is the book for you.

Editorial Review:

Now in its twenty-ninth year of publication, this book offers the current news on more than 6,000 wines, growers, and regions. With completely updated vintage information, recommended wines for current drinking, and star ratings, this is the only annual wine guide anyone will need. It has all the information necessary to help you select anything from a weekday wine for supper to a prestige vintage for investment, with a new section listing Hugh Johnson's personal recommendations. Also included are vintage charts, maps, and expert tasting notes. Hints on serving wine and matching wine with food complete the picture.

The WineAccess Buyer's Guide: The World's Best Wines and Where to Find Them

Stephen Tanzer, Wine Access

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

The Most Useable Review of Wine 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

Most of the time, when you read a wine rating publication, you can end up more frustrated than delighted. It's nice to know that the 2007 Petite Sirah from Three (for example) is yummy. But what happens if you want to take the next step and actually find that wine, buy it and taste it?
This book comes complete with a subscription to a website that allows you to search for the wines that interest you and even order them for delivery to your door. That kind of buying means that anyone, anywhere can shop from any of the wine shops in the country.

Most guides leave you thirsty. Tanzer's book lets you quench that thirst.

Editorial Review:

The wine guide, redefined! Wine lovers can find many books with excellent suggestions on what to buy—but then they’re usually left in the lurch, with no idea how to locate the recommended bottle. No more! Renowned wine critic Stephen Tanzer, author of the International Wine Cellar, has teamed up with WineAccess.com, the online shopping network for fine wine, to create a unique and authoritative buyer’s guide. Featuring expert recommendations, and organized by region, it covers the top producers. Plus, for each wine, it presents ratings for more than one vintage. And best of all, people who buy the guide will gain access to a special section on WineAccess.com, where they’ll find an interactive version of the book, along with up-to-date information on availability and price and the ability to click and purchase suggested wines.

Bordeaux: How to Find Great Wines Off the Beaten Track (Discovering Wine Country)

Monty Waldin

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Supreme knowledge 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

Waldin's knowledge of his subject is immense but conveyed with an ease.

He is clearly no stooge to the grand marques and is forthright in his opinions without being pompous.

Whether you're a wine lover or merely someone that loves the countryside, this book is really all you'll need for a terrific week in Bordeaux.

Editorial Review:

From the Médoc to Sauternes, this invaluable guide to France’s popular Bordeaux region explains the area’s classification system and offers advice on getting around and finding the best hotels and restaurants. It features tours of the wine areas, with suggestions for the best routes to follow and which producers to visit. Plus, there are expert tips on winery etiquette and advice on the fabulous tasting wines at all price levels. 
 
 

A Taste For Wine: 20 key tastings to unlock your personal wine style

Vincent Gasnier

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Editorial Review:

Do you like bold reds? How about fruity whites? What's your personal wine style? One of the fastest-rising stars in the world of wine has discovered a fun, fresh, and intuitive way to learn how to recognize the flavors you like best- and pick exactly the right bottle of wine every time.

The Wines of Rioja (Classic Wine Library)

John Radford

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Editorial Review:

Rioja is Spain’s most famous wine region—and this guide has the most up-to-date information on more than 450 producers and their vintages. Here are details of the key changes to the wine laws of this region, which were revised in 2003, with all aspects of the wines fully covered—from the traditional estates to the most innovative bodegas to the newest types being produced.
 

Discovering Wine: A Refreshingly Unfussy Beginner's Guide to Finding, Tasting, Judging, Storing, Serving, Cellaring, and, Most of All, Discovering Wine

Joanna Simon

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Discovering Wine has been hailed by new and experienced wine lovers everywhere as the classic, approachable introduction to the luscious world of wine. In this revised and updated edition, Simon addresses the latest wine trends and provides brand-new information on vintages recently established in countries and continents around the globe.

More than 250 full-color photographs, maps, and charts beautifully complement Simon's effervescent approach to the fascinating world of wine, and help to dispel the mystique that so often surrounds the subject. She provides the crucial hints that will help you to become a wine aficionado -- virtually overnight. You will learn how to

• Taste and judge wine like an expert
• Correctly match food and wine
• Follow the newest guidelines for serving and storing your wines
• Discern classic wines from those that emulate them
• Understand the importance and role of grapes
• Know when a particular wine is ready to drink

In addition to demystifying wine, Simon explores famous vineyards and explains how the winemakers use grapes to their most delicious advantage. And after a concise but thorough roundup of today's wine styles, Simon conducts a tour through the wine regions of the world -- from Chianti to Coonawarra, from Médoc to Moldova, and everywhere in between.

As entertaining as it is informative, Discovering Wine is destined to remain the definitive beginner's guide to wine.

The 500 Best-Value Wines in the LCBO 2009

Rod Phillips

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Editorial Review:

This year's definitive guide to the best bottles in the LCBO.

Rod Phillips returns after the success of The 500 Best-Value Wines in the LCBO 2008 with The 500 Best-Value Wines in the LCBO 2009. Including many new selections that reflect additions to the LCBO's range, the 2009 edition again offers an unparalleled guide to getting the best out of the LCBO. The book's straightforward reviews will help both the wine novice and the experienced wine consumer cut through the LCBO's wide range of wines to identify the best values.

The 500 Best-Value Wines in the LCBO 2009 rates wines on a five-star scale, provides no-nonsense descriptions and suggests food pairings. It also provides answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about wine, among them: whether wine in boxes and plastic bottles is as good as wine in glass bottles; how to keep leftover wine; and whether the kind of wine glass used makes a difference. The 2009 edition follows the same easy-to-follow format, and now has an index of wines organized by price and food pairings. It also features a section on kosher wine.