by Ed McCarthy

    Certified Wine Educator

    and

    Mary Ewing-Mulligan

    Master of Wine

    Wine

    FOR

    DUMmIES‰

    4TH EDITION

    01_045795 ffirs.qxp 82206 8:41 PM Page iWine For Dummies? , 4th Edition

    Published by

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    01_045795 ffirs.qxp 82206 8:41 PM Page iiAbout the Authors

    Ed McCarthy and Mary Ewing-Mulligan are two wine lovers who met at an

    Italian wine tasting in New York City’s Chinatown and subsequently merged

    their wine cellars and wine libraries when they married. They have since co-

    authored six wine books in the Wine For Dummies series (including two of

    their favorites, French Wine For Dummies and Italian Wine For Dummies) as

    well as their latest book, Wine Style (Wiley); taught hundreds of wine classes

    together; visited nearly every wine region in the world; run five marathons;

    and raised eleven cats. Along the way, they have amassed more than half a

    century of professional wine experience between them.

    Mary is president of International Wine Center, a New York City wine school

    that offers credentialed wine education for wine professionals and serious

    wine lovers. As U.S. director of the Wine Spirit Education Trust (WSET?),the world’s leading wine educational organization, she works to make the

    courses she offers in New York available in more and more parts of the

    United States. She is also the long-standing wine columnist of the NY Daily

    News. Mary’s most impressive credential is that she’s the first female Master

    of Wine (MW) in the United States, and one of only 22 MW’s in North America

    (with 251 worldwide).

    Ed, a New Yorker, graduated from City University of NY with a master’s degree

    in psychology. He taught high school English in another life, while working

    part-time in wine shops to satisfy his passion for wine and to subsidize his

    growing wine cellar. That cellar is especially heavy in his favorite wines —

    Bordeaux, Barolo, and Champagne. Besides co-authoring six wine books in

    the For Dummies series with Mary, Ed went solo as author of Champagne For

    Dummies, a topic on which he’s especially expert.

    Ed and Mary also share wine columns in Nation’s Restaurant News and in

    Beverage Media, a trade publication. They are each columnists for the online

    wine magazine, WineReviewOnline.com. Ed and Mary are both accredited as

    Certified Wine Educators (CWE).

    When they aren’t writing, teaching, or visiting wine regions, Mary and Ed main-

    tain a busy schedule of speaking, judging at professional wine competitions,and tasting as many new wines as possible. They admit to leading thoroughly

    unbalanced lives in which their only non-wine pursuits are hiking in the

    Berkshires and the Italian Alps. At home, they wind down to the tunes of U2,K.D. Lang, Bob Dylan, and Neil Young in the company of their feline roommates

    Dolcetto, Black Whitey, Ponzi, and Pinot.

    01_045795 ffirs.qxp 82206 8:41 PM Page iii01_045795 ffirs.qxp 82206 8:41 PM Page ivAuthors’ Acknowledgments

    The wine world is dynamic — it’s constantly changing. Because three years

    have passed since the third edition of Wine For Dummies, we decided to

    revise and update the book. We especially felt an obligation to write this

    fourth edition because of all the readers who have personally told us how

    valuable Wine For Dummies has been to them. We are grateful that we’ve

    been able to contribute to your knowledge about this wonderful beverage.

    But this book would not have been possible without the team at Wiley. We

    sincerely thank Publisher Diane Steele, who engaged us to write the fourth

    edition of Wine For Dummies, along with Acquisitions Editor Stacy Kennedy.

    Really special thanks go to our Project Editor, Traci Cumbay, who made excel-

    lent suggestions to improve the text.

    We thank our technical reviewer, colleague Igor Ryjenkov, MW, for his expertise.

    It’s a better, more accurate book because of you.

    Special thanks to Steve Ettlinger, our agent and friend, who brought us to the

    For Dummies series in the first place, and who is always there for us.

    We thank all our friends in the wine business for your information and kind

    suggestions for our book; the book reviewers, whose criticism has been so

    generous; and our readers, who have encouraged us with your enthusiasm

    for our previous books in this series.

    Mary offers special thanks to Linda Lawry and everyone else at International

    Wine Center, who enabled her to have the time and the peace of mind to work

    on this book. Thanks also to Elise McCarthy, E.J. McCarthy, Cindy McCarthy

    Tomarchio and her husband, David, for their encouragement and support.

    01_045795 ffirs.qxp 82206 8:41 PM Page vPublisher’s Acknowledgments

    We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our Dummies online registration

    form located at www.dummies.comregister.

    Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:

    Acquisitions, Editorial, and

    Media Development

    Project Editor: Traci Cumbay

    (Previous Edition: Joan Friedman)

    Acquisitions Editor: Stacy Kennedy

    Editorial Program Coordinator: Erin Calligan

    Technical Editor: Igor Ryjenkov, MW

    Editorial Manager: Michelle Hacker

    Editorial Supervisor and Reprint Editor:

    Carmen Krikorian

    Editorial Assistant: David Lutton

    Cover Photos: ? S.T. YiapAge Fotostock

    Cartoons: Rich Tennant

    (www.the5thwave.com)

    Composition

    Project Coordinator: Tera Knapp

    Layout and Graphics: Lauren Goddard,Denny Hager, Stephanie D. Jumper,Heather Ryan, Alicia South

    Special Art: Akira Chiwaki

    Proofreaders: Leeann Harney, Techbooks

    Indexer: Techbooks

    Publishing and Editorial for Consumer Dummies

    Diane Graves Steele, Vice President and Publisher, Consumer Dummies

    Joyce Pepple, Acquisitions Director, Consumer Dummies

    Kristin A. Cocks, Product Development Director, Consumer Dummies

    Michael Spring, Vice President and Publisher, Travel

    Kelly Regan, Editorial Director, Travel

    Publishing for Technology Dummies

    Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher, Dummies TechnologyGeneral User

    Composition Services

    Gerry Fahey, Vice President of Production Services

    Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services

    01_045795 ffirs.qxp 82206 8:41 PM Page viContents at a Glance

    Introduction .................................................................1

    Part I: Getting to Know Wine.........................................7

    Chapter 1: Wine 101 ...........................................................................................................9

    Chapter 2: These Taste Buds Are for You......................................................................21

    Chapter 3: Pinot Envy and Other Secrets about Grape Varieties...............................35

    Chapter 4: Wine Names and Label Lingo.......................................................................49

    Chapter 5: Behind the Scenes of Winemaking ..............................................................67

    Part II: Wine and You: Up Close and Personal...............75

    Chapter 6: Navigating a Wine Shop................................................................................77

    Chapter 7: Confronting a Restaurant Wine List ............................................................89

    Chapter 8: The Insider’s Track to Serving and Using Wine.......................................105

    Part III: The “Old World” of Wine ..............................125

    Chapter 9: Doing France ................................................................................................127

    Chapter 10: Italy, the Heartland of Vino ......................................................................167

    Chapter 11: Spain, Portugal, Germany, and Beyond ..................................................187

    Part IV: Discovering the New World of Wine ...............211

    Chapter 12: The Southern Hemisphere Arises ...........................................................213

    Chapter 13: America, America......................................................................................231

    Part V: Wine’s Exotic Face.........................................263

    Chapter 14: Champagne and Other Sparklers ............................................................265

    Chapter 15: Wine Roads Less Traveled: Fortified and Dessert Wines.....................287

    Part VI: When You’ve Caught the Bug ........................307

    Chapter 16: Buying and Collecting Wine .....................................................................309

    Chapter 17: Continuing Education for Wine Lovers...................................................327

    Chapter 18: Describing and Rating Wine.....................................................................341

    Chapter 19: Marrying Wine with Food.........................................................................349

    Part VII: The Part of Tens ..........................................355

    Chapter 20: Answers to Ten Common Questions about Wine..................................357

    Chapter 21: Ten Wine Myths Demystified ...................................................................363

    02_045795 ftoc.qxp 82206 8:43 PM Page viiPart VIII: Appendixes................................................369

    Appendix A: Pronunciation Guide to Wine Terms .....................................................371

    Appendix B: Glossary of Wine Terms ..........................................................................377

    Appendix C: Vintage Wine Chart: 1985–2004 ..............................................................385

    Index .......................................................................389

    02_045795 ftoc.qxp 82206 8:43 PM Page viii

    Introduction..................................................................1

    About This Book...............................................................................................1

    Conventions Used in This Book .....................................................................2

    Foolish Assumptions .......................................................................................2

    How This Book Is Organized...........................................................................3

    Part I: Getting to Know Wine.................................................................3

    Part II: Wine and You: Up Close and Personal ....................................3

    Part III: The “Old World” of Wine..........................................................3

    Part IV: Discovering the New World of Wine.......................................4

    Part V: Wine’s Exotic Face .....................................................................4

    Part VI: When You’ve Caught the Bug..................................................4

    Part VII: The Part of Tens ......................................................................4

    Part VIII: Appendixes .............................................................................4

    Icons Used in This Book..................................................................................5

    Part I: Getting to Know Wine .........................................7

    Chapter 1: Wine 101 . . . . . . . . . . .9

    How Wine Happens..........................................................................................9

    What could be more natural? .............................................................10

    Modern wrinkles in winemaking.........................................................10

    The main ingredient .............................................................................10

    Local flavor............................................................................................11

    What Color Is Your Appetite? .......................................................................11

    (Not exactly) white wine .....................................................................11

    Is white always right?...........................................................................12

    Red, red wine ........................................................................................14

    A rose is a rose, but a rosé is “white” ................................................15

    Which type when? ................................................................................16

    Other Ways of Categorizing Wine.................................................................16

    Table wine .............................................................................................17

    Dessert wine..........................................................................................18

    Sparkling wine (and a highly personal spelling lesson) ..................19

    Chapter 2: These Taste Buds Are for You . . . . . . .21

    The Special Technique for Tasting Wine.....................................................21

    Savoring wine’s good looks.................................................................22

    The nose knows....................................................................................23

    The mouth action.................................................................................25

    02_045795 ftoc.qxp 82206 8:43 PM Page ixParlez-Vous Winespeak? ................................................................................27

    The sequential palate ..........................................................................28

    The flavor dimension...........................................................................29

    The Quality Issue ...........................................................................................30

    What’s a good wine?.............................................................................31

    What’s a bad wine?...............................................................................33

    The Final Analysis: Do You Like It? ..............................................................34

    Chapter 3: Pinot Envy and Other Secrets about Grape Varieties . . .35

    Why Grapes Matter ........................................................................................35

    Of genus and species ...........................................................................36

    A variety of varieties............................................................................36

    How grapes vary...................................................................................37

    Grape royalty and commoners...........................................................39

    A Primer on White Grape Varieties ..............................................................40

    Chardonnay...........................................................................................40

    Riesling ..................................................................................................41

    Sauvignon Blanc ...................................................................................42

    Pinot GrisPinot Grigio.........................................................................43

    Other white grapes...............................................................................43

    A Primer on Red Grape Varieties..................................................................45

    Cabernet Sauvignon .............................................................................45

    Merlot.....................................................................................................45

    Pinot Noir ..............................................................................................46

    SyrahShiraz..........................................................................................46

    Zinfandel ................................................................................................47

    Nebbiolo ................................................................................................47

    Sangiovese.............................................................................................47

    Tempranillo ...........................................................................................48

    Other red grapes ..................................................................................48

    Chapter 4: Wine Names and Label Lingo . . . . . . .49

    The Wine Name Game ...................................................................................49

    Is it a grape? Is it a place?....................................................................50

    Hello, my name is Chardonnay...........................................................50

    Hello, my name is Bordeaux................................................................51

    Wines named in other ways ................................................................55

    Wine Labels, Forward and Backward ..........................................................57

    The mandatory sentence ....................................................................58

    Some optional label lingo....................................................................62

    Chapter 5: Behind the Scenes of Winemaking . . . . .67

    Grapegrowing, Winemaking, and the Jargon that Surrounds Them........67

    Viti-vini...................................................................................................68

    Vine-growing variations.......................................................................69

    Winemaking wonders...........................................................................70

    Even More Winemaking Terms .....................................................................72

    Wine For Dummies, 4th Edition

    x

    02_045795 ftoc.qxp 82206 8:43 PM Page xPart II: Wine and You: Up Close and Personal ...............75

    Chapter 6: Navigating a Wine Shop . . . . . . .77

    Buying Wine Can Intimidate Anyone ...........................................................77

    Wine Retailers, Large and Small ...................................................................78

    Supermarkets, superstores, and so on..............................................79

    Wine specialty shops ...........................................................................80

    Choosing the Right Wine Merchant .............................................................82

    Putting price in perspective................................................................82

    Evaluating selection and expertise ....................................................82

    Expecting service with a smile ...........................................................83

    Judging wine storage conditions........................................................83

    Strategies for Wine Shopping .......................................................................84

    See a chance, take it.............................................................................85

    Explain what you want.........................................................................85

    Name your price ...................................................................................87

    Chapter 7: Confronting a Restaurant Wine List . . . . .89

    The Restaurant Wine Experience.................................................................89

    How Wine Is Sold in Restaurants .................................................................90

    The choice of the house ......................................................................90

    Premium pours .....................................................................................91

    Special, or reserve, wine lists .............................................................92

    The (anything but) standard wine list ...............................................93

    How to Read a Wine List ...............................................................................94

    Sizing up the organization of the list .................................................94

    Getting a handle on the pricing ..........................................................96

    What the wine list should tell you......................................................96

    Assessing the list’s style......................................................................97

    Digital browsing....................................................................................97

    Ordering Your Wine .......................................................................................98

    Handling the Wine Presentation Ritual .....................................................100

    Restaurant Wine Tips ..................................................................................102

    Chapter 8: The Insider’s Track to Serving and Using Wine . . .105

    Getting the Cork Out....................................................................................105

    The corkscrew not to use..................................................................106

    The corkscrew to buy ........................................................................107

    Other corkscrews worth owning......................................................108

    Waiter, there’s cork in my wine!........................................................110

    A special case: Opening Champagne and sparkling wine .............111

    Does Wine Really Breathe? .........................................................................113

    How to aerate your wine ...................................................................113

    Which wines need aerating? .............................................................113

    xi

    02_045795 ftoc.qxp 82206 8:43 PM Page xiDoes the Glass Really Matter? ....................................................................115

    The right color: none .........................................................................116

    Thin but not tiny.................................................................................116

    Tulips, flutes, trumpets, and other picturesque

    wine-glass names ............................................................................117

    How many glasses do I need, anyway? ............................................119

    Washing your wine glasses ...............................................................119

    Not Too Warm, Not Too Cold......................................................................119

    Keeping Leftover Wine ................................................................................121

    Entertaining with Wine................................................................................122

    First things first ..................................................................................123

    How much is enough..........................................................................123

    Part III: The “Old World” of Wine...............................125

    Chapter 9: Doing France . . . . . . . . .127

    The French Model ........................................................................................127

    Understanding French wine law.......................................................128

    Fine distinctions in the ranks ...........................................................129

    France’s Wine Regions.................................................................................130

    Bordeaux: The Incomparable .....................................................................131

    The subregions of red Bordeaux ......................................................133

    The Médoc mosaic .............................................................................134

    Classified information........................................................................135

    Bordeaux to try when you’re feeling flush......................................137

    The value end of the Bordeaux spectrum.......................................138

    Practical advice on drinking red Bordeaux.....................................140

    Bordeaux also comes in white..........................................................141

    Burgundy: The Other Great French Wine..................................................142

    Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Gamay........................................................143

    Districts, districts everywhere .........................................................143

    From the regional to the sublime .....................................................144

    The C?te d’Or: The heart of Burgundy............................................146

    C?te Chalonnaise: Bargain Burgundies ...........................................152

    Chablis: Unique white wines.............................................................153

    Macon: Affordable whites..................................................................154

    Beaujolais: As delightful as it is affordable .....................................155

    The Hearty Rh?nes of the Valley................................................................158

    Generous wines of the south ............................................................158

    Noble wines of the north...................................................................159

    The Loire Valley: White Wine Heaven........................................................160

    Alsace Wines: French, Not German............................................................162

    Wine For Dummies, 4th Edition

    xii

    02_045795 ftoc.qxp 82206 8:43 PM Page xiiThe South and Southwest ...........................................................................163

    The Midi: France’s bargain basement ..............................................164

    Timeless Provence .............................................................................164

    Southwest France ...............................................................................165

    Other French Wine Regions ........................................................................166

    Chapter 10: Italy, the Heartland of Vino . . . . . . .167

    The Vineyard of Europe...............................................................................167

    The ordinary and the elite ................................................................169

    Categories of Italian wine, legally speaking ....................................170

    Italy’s wine regions.............................................................................170

    Reds Reign in Piedmont ..............................................................................172

    Weekday reds......................................................................................173

    Whites in a supporting role...............................................................175

    Tuscany the Beautiful ..................................................................................175

    Chianti: Italy’s great, underrated red...............................................175

    Monumental Brunello di Montalcino ...............................................177

    Vino Nobile, Carmignano, and Vernaccia ........................................179

    Two more reds and a white...............................................................179

    Super-Tuscans ....................................................................................180

    Tre Venezie....................................................................................................182

    Three gentle wines from Verona.......................................................182

    The Austrian-Italian alliance .............................................................183

    The far side: Friuli-Venezia Giulia.....................................................184

    Snapshots from the Rest of Italy ................................................................185

    Chapter 11: Spain, Portugal, Germany, and Beyond . . . .187

    Intriguing Wines from Old Spain ................................................................188

    Rioja rules the roost...........................................................................189

    Ribera del Duero challenges .............................................................191

    Priorato: Emerging from the past .....................................................191

    Five other Spanish regions to watch................................................192

    Portugal: More Than Just Port ...................................................................194

    Portugal’s “green” white....................................................................195

    Noteworthy Portuguese red wines ..................................................195

    Germany: Europe’s Individualist ................................................................197

    Riesling and its cohorts.....................................................................197

    Germany’s wine laws and wine styles..............................................198

    Germany’s wine regions.....................................................................200

    Switzerland’s Stay-at-Home Wines .............................................................203

    Austria’s Exciting Whites (and Reds) ........................................................204

    The Re-emergence of Hungary ...................................................................205

    The Glory That Is Greece ............................................................................207

    xiii

    02_045795 ftoc.qxp 82206 8:43 PM Page xiiiPart IV: Discovering the New World of Wine................211

    Chapter 12: The Southern Hemisphere Arises . . . . .213

    Australian Wine Power ................................................................................215

    Winemaking, grapes, and terroir ......................................................215

    Australia’s wine regions.....................................................................216

    The Rise of New Zealand.............................................................................219

    Chile Discovers Itself ...................................................................................221

    Chile’s wine regions ...........................................................................222

    The face and taste of the wines........................................................223

    Argentina, a Major League Player ..............................................................225

    Regions and grapes ............................................................................225

    Names to know ...................................................................................226

    South African Wine Safari............................................................................227

    South Africa’s principal wine regions ..............................................227

    Steen, Pinotage, and company..........................................................228

    Chapter 13: America, America . . . . . . . .231

    The New World of American Wine .............................................................231

    Homegrown ways ...............................................................................232

    Playing by their own rules ................................................................232

    California, USA..............................................................................................233

    Where California wines grow............................................................234

    When the wines are good..................................................................236

    Napa Valley: As Tiny as It Is Famous..........................................................236

    The grapes of Napa ............................................................................237

    Who’s who in Napa (and for what) ..................................................237

    Down-to-Earth in Sonoma ...........................................................................241

    Sonoma’s AVAs....................................................................................241

    Sonoma producers and wines ..........................................................242

    Mendocino and Lake Counties ...................................................................244

    San Francisco Bay Area ...............................................................................245

    Santa Cruz Mountains..................................................................................246

    What’s New in Old Monterey ......................................................................246

    Thar’s Wine in Them There Foothills ........................................................248

    Contrasts in San Luis Obispo .....................................................................249

    Santa Barbara, Californian Paradise..........................................................250

    Elsewhere in California................................................................................251

    Oregon, A Tale of Two Pinots .....................................................................252

    Oregon’s other Pinot ..........................................................................252

    Who’s who in Willamette Valley........................................................253

    Two other Oregon wine regions .......................................................254

    Wine on the Desert: Washington State ......................................................255

    Washington’s wine regions................................................................256

    Who’s who in Washington .................................................................257

    Wine For Dummies, 4th Edition

    xiv

    02_045795 ftoc.qxp 82206 8:43 PM Page xivThe Empire State..........................................................................................259

    Upstate, downstate ............................................................................259

    Who’s who in New York .....................................................................260

    Oh, Canada....................................................................................................261

    Ontario.................................................................................................261

    British Columbia.................................................................................262

    Part V: Wine’s Exotic Face .........................................263

    Chapter 14: Champagne and Other Sparklers . . . . .265

    All That Glitters Is Not Champagne ...........................................................266

    Sparkling Wine Styles ..................................................................................267

    How sweet is it? ..................................................................................267

    How good is it? ...................................................................................268

    How Sparkling Wine Happens.....................................................................269

    Tank fermentation: Economy of scale..............................................269

    Bottle fermentation: Small is beautiful ............................................270

    Taste: The proof of the pudding .......................................................271

    Champagne and Its Magic Wines ...............................................................272

    What makes Champagne special ......................................................273

    Non-vintage Champagne....................................................................273

    Vintage Champagne ...........................................................................274

    Blanc de blancs and blanc de noirs .................................................276

    Rosé Champagne ................................................................................276

    Sweetness categories.........................................................................277

    Recommended Champagne producers ...........................................277

    Other Sparkling Wines.................................................................................279

    French sparkling wine........................................................................280

    American sparkling wine ...................................................................280

    Italian spumante: Sweet or dry.........................................................282

    Spanish sparkling wines (Cava)........................................................283

    Southern stars ....................................................................................284

    Buying and Serving Bubbly.........................................................................284

    Chapter 15: Wine Roads Less Traveled:

    Fortified and Dessert Wines . . . . . . . .287

    Timing Is Everything....................................................................................287

    Sherry: A Misunderstood Wine ..................................................................288

    The Jerez triangle ...............................................................................288

    The phenomenon of flor....................................................................289

    Communal aging .................................................................................289

    Two makes twelve ..............................................................................290

    Serving and storing Sherry ...............................................................292

    Recommended Sherries.....................................................................293

    Montilla: A Sherry look-alike.............................................................294

    xv

    02_045795 ftoc.qxp 82206 8:43 PM Page xvMarsala, Vin Santo, and the Gang ..............................................................294

    Port: The Glory of Portugal ........................................................................295

    Home, home on the Douro ................................................................295

    Many Ports in a storm .......................................................................296

    Storing and serving Port....................................................................298

    Recommended Port producers ........................................................299

    Long Live Madeira........................................................................................300

    Timeless, indestructible, and tasty..................................................300

    Endless finish......................................................................................301

    Sauternes and the Nobly Rotten Wines.....................................................303

    Sauternes: Liquid gold .......................................................................303

    Mining the gold...................................................................................304

    Recommended Sauternes..................................................................304

    Letting baby grow...............................................................................306

    Sauternes look-alikes .........................................................................306

    Part VI: When You’ve Caught the Bug.........................307

    Chapter 16: Buying and Collecting Wine . . . . . .309

    Wines That Play Hard to Get.......................................................................309

    Playing Hardball ...........................................................................................310

    Buying wines at auctions...................................................................310

    Buying wine by catalog or Internet ..................................................312

    Some U.S. wine stores worth knowing.............................................313

    Wine online..........................................................................................315

    The Urge to Own: Wine Collecting .............................................................316

    Balancing your inventory..................................................................317

    Organization is peace of mind ..........................................................320

    A Healthy Environment for Your Wines ....................................................321

    The passive wine cellar .....................................................................321

    If you can’t be passive, be bullish ....................................................322

    Wine caves for apartment dwellers .................................................325

    Chapter 17: Continuing Education for Wine Lovers . . . . .327

    Back to the Classroom.................................................................................327

    One wine school in action.................................................................328

    Wine tastings of all shapes and sizes...............................................329

    When in Rome . . ...............................................................................330

    Dinner with the winemaker...............................................................332

    Visiting the wineries...........................................................................333

    Armchair Travel ...........................................................................................334

    Recommended books ........................................................................334

    Wine magazines and newsletters .....................................................337

    Internet newsletters and interesting sites ......................................338

    Wine For Dummies, 4th Edition

    xvi

    02_045795 ftoc.qxp 82206 8:43 PM Page xviChapter 18: Describing and Rating Wine . . . . . .341

    Words Cannot Describe . . .........................................................................341

    When It’s Your Turn to Speak .....................................................................343

    Organizing your thoughts..................................................................343

    Writing tasting notes..........................................................................344

    Describing wine: Purism versus poetry ..........................................346

    Rating Wine Quality .....................................................................................347

    Chapter 19: Marrying Wine with Food . . . . . . .349

    The Dynamics of Food and Wine................................................................349

    Tannic wines .......................................................................................351

    Sweet wines.........................................................................................351

    Acidic wines ........................................................................................351

    High-alcohol wines .............................................................................352

    Birds of a Feather, or Opposites Attract?..................................................352

    The Wisdom of the Ages .............................................................................354

    Part VII: The Part of Tens...........................................355

    Chapter 20: Answers to Ten Common Questions about Wine . . .357

    What’s the best wine?..................................................................................357

    When should I drink this wine? ..................................................................358

    Is wine fattening?..........................................................................................358

    What grape variety made this wine? .........................................................359

    Which vintage should I buy?.......................................................................359

    Are there any wines without sulfites? .......................................................360

    What are organic wines? .............................................................................360

    What is a wine expert? ................................................................................361

    How do I know when to drink the special

    older wines I’ve been keeping? ...............................................................361

    Do old wines require special handling? ....................................................362

    Chapter 21: Ten Wine Myths Demystified . . . . . .363

    The best wines are varietal wines..............................................................363

    Wine has to be expensive to be good........................................................363

    Dark-colored reds are the best red wines.................................................364

    White wine with fish, red with meat ..........................................................364

    Numbers don’t lie.........................................................................................365

    Vintages always mattervintages don’t matter ........................................365

    Wine authorities are experts ......................................................................366

    Old wines are good wines ...........................................................................367

    Great wines are supposed to taste bad when they’re young .................367

    Champagnes don’t age ................................................................................368

    xvii

    02_045795 ftoc.qxp 82206 8:43 PM Page xviiPart VIII: Appendixes ................................................369

    Appendix A: Pronunciation Guide to Wine Terms . . . . .371

    Appendix B: Glossary of Wine Terms . . . . . . .377

    Appendix C: Vintage Wine Chart: 1985–2004 . . . . .385

    Index........................................................................389

    Wine For Dummies, 4th Edition

    xviii

    02_045795 ftoc.qxp 82206 8:43 PM Page xviiiIntroduction

    We love wine. We love the way it tastes, we love the fascinating variety

    of wines in the world, and we love the way wine brings people together

    at the dinner table. We believe that you and everyone else should be able to

    enjoy wine — regardless of your experience or your budget.

    But we’ll be the first to admit that wine people, such as many wine profes-

    sionals and really serious connoisseurs, don’t make it easy for regular people

    to enjoy wine. You have to know strange names of grape varieties and foreign

    wine regions. You have to figure out whether to buy a 20 wine or an 8 wine

    that seem to be pretty much the same thing. You even need a special tool to

    open the bottle once you get it home!

    All this complication surrounding wine will never go away, because wine is a

    very rich and complex field. But you don’t have to let the complication stand

    in your way. With the right attitude and a little understanding of what wine is,you can begin to buy and enjoy wine. And if, like us, you decide that wine is

    fascinating, you can find out more and turn it into a wonderful hobby.

    Because we hate to think that wine, which has brought so much pleasure into

    our lives, could be the source of anxiety for anyone, we want to help you feel

    more comfortable around wine. Some knowledge of wine, gleaned from the

    pages of this book and from our shared experiences, will go a long way toward

    increasing your comfort level.

    Ironically, what will really make you feel comfortable about wine is accepting

    the fact that you’ll never know it all — and that you’ve got plenty of company.

    You see, after you really get a handle on wine, you discover that no one knows

    everything there is to know about wine. There’s just too much information,and it’s always changing. And when you know that, you can just relax and

    enjoy the stuff.

    About This Book

    If you already have a previous edition of Wine For Dummies, you may be

    wondering whether you need this book. We believe that you do. We wrote

    03_045795 intro.qxp 82206 8:40 PM Page 1Wine For Dummies in 1995, and the world of wine has changed a lot since then.

    It has even changed since our third edition in 2003:

    
Dozens of wineries have opened, a few have gone out of business, many

    have improved, and a few have slipped. Web sites on wine have come

    and gone. The wine auction scene bears almost no resemblance to what

    it was. Our recommendations reflect all these changes.

    
Remember those prices that we listed for your favorite wines in our ear-

    lier editions? Well, big surprise: Just about all those prices have increased.

    But we point out some bargains, especially in Parts III, IV, and V.

    
Several new vintages have occurred; we give you the lowdown on them

    throughout the book, and especially in our vintage chart in Appendix C.

    
Great wine regions of yesterday, such as Spain, Hungary and Greece,have revitalized themselves, and we tell you about them. Also in this

    edition, we’ve updated the wine regions of Italy, California, Washington,Chile, and Argentina, among others.

    We wrote this book to be an easy-to-use reference. You don’t have to read it

    from cover to cover for it to make sense and be useful to you. Simply turn to

    the section that interests you and dig in.

    Conventions Used in This Book

    To help you navigate this book, we’ve established the following conventions:

    
Italic is used for emphasis and to highlight new words or terms that are

    defined.

    
Monofont is used for Web addresses.

    
Sidebars, which are shaded boxes of text, consist of information that’s

    interesting but not necessarily critical to your understanding of the

    topic.

    Foolish Assumptions

    We assume that you picked up this book for one of several reasons:

    
You know very little about wine, but have a strong desire to learn more.

    
You do know something about wine, more than most people, but you

    want to understand it better, from the ground up.

    2 Wine For Dummies, 4th Edition

    03_045795 intro.qxp 82206 8:40 PM Page 2
You’re already very knowledgeable but realize that you can always

    discover more or want to see whether we’ve made any mistakes so

    that you can brag to your friends that you caught us in a flagrant error.

    (Maybe you think that a particular vintage in Bordeaux wasn’t nearly as

    good as we said, for example.)

    We also assume that you don’t have a lot of ego invested in wine — or maybe

    you do, and you’re buying this book “for your sister-in-law.” And we assume that

    you are someone who doesn’t appreciate a lot of mumbo-jumbo and jargonistic

    language about wine, and that you’re someone who wants straight talk instead.

    How This Book Is Organized

    This book is a wine textbook of sorts, a user’s manual, and a reference book, all

    in one. We’ve included very basic information about wine for readers who know

    nothing (or next to nothing) about wine — but we have also included tips, sug-

    gestions, and more sophisticated information for seasoned wine drinkers who

    want to take their hobby to a more advanced level. Depending on where you

    fall on the wine-knowledge gradient, different chapters will be relevant to you.

    Part I: Getting to Know Wine

    The five chapters in Part I get you up and sipping even if you’ve never tasted

    wine in your life. We tell you the basic types of wine, how to taste it, which

    grapes make wine, why winemaking matters, and how wines are named.

    Part II: Wine and You: Up Close

    and Personal

    This part deals with practical wine matters — in the wine shop, in the restau-

    rant, and in your home. Find out how to handle snooty wine clerks, restaurant

    wine lists, and those stubborn corks. In addition, we show you how to decipher

    cryptic wine labels.

    Part III: The “Old World” of Wine

    Visit this part for a tour of the major wine regions of Europe: France, Italy,Spain, Portugal, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, and Greece.

    3 Introduction

    03_045795 intro.qxp 82206 8:40 PM Page 3Part IV: Discovering the

    New World of Wine

    Here we adventure to Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Argentina, and South

    Africa, and then take a look at the major wine areas in the United States —

    California, Oregon, Washington, and New York — and end with a quick look at

    Canada’s wines.

    Part V: Wine’s Exotic Face

    Some of the most exciting and fascinating wines are in this part, including

    Champagne, Sherry, Port, Sauternes, and other exotic dessert wines.

    Part VI: When You’ve Caught the Bug

    You find a wealth of practical advice in this part, including recommendations

    on where and how you can buy wine beyond your local wine shops. We tell

    you how to describe and rate wines you taste, and how to pair food and wine.

    We also tell you how to store wine properly, and how to pursue your love and

    knowledge of wine beyond this book.

    Part VII: The Part of Tens

    What For Dummies book would be complete without this part? It’s a synopsis

    of interesting tips and recommendations about wine to reinforce our sugges-

    tions earlier in the book. We’re particularly happy to debunk ten prevalent

    myths about wine so that you can become a savvier consumer and a more

    satisfied wine drinker.

    Part VIII: Appendixes

    In Part VIII, we show you how to pronounce foreign wine words, and you can

    look up unfamiliar wine terms in our glossary. You can also consult our vin-

    tage chart to check out the quality and drinkability of your wine.

    4 Wine For Dummies, 4th Edition

    03_045795 intro.qxp 82206 8:40 PM Page 4Icons Used in This Book

    This odd little guy is a bit like the two-year-old who constantly insists on

    knowing “Why, Mommy, why?” But he knows that you may not have the

    same level of curiosity that he has. Where you see him, feel free to skip

    over the technical information that follows. Wine will still taste just as

    delicious.

    Advice and information that will make you a wiser wine drinker or buyer is

    marked by this bull’s-eye so that you won’t miss it.

    There’s very little you can do in the course of moderate wine consumption

    that can land you in jail — but you could spoil an expensive bottle and sink

    into a deep depression over your loss. This symbol warns you about

    common pitfalls.

    Some issues in wine are so fundamental that they bear repeating. Just so you

    don’t think that we repeated ourselves without realizing it, we mark the repe-

    titions with this symbol.

    Wine snobs practice all sorts of affectations designed to make other wine

    drinkers feel inferior. But you won’t be intimidated by their snobbery if you

    see it for what it is. (And you can learn how to impersonate a wine snob!)

    A bargain’s not a bargain unless you really like the outfit, as they say. To our

    tastes, the wines we mark with this icon are bargains because we like them,we believe them to be of good quality, and their price is low compared to

    other wines of similar type, style, or quality. You can also interpret this logo

    as a badge of genuineness, as in “This Chablis is the real deal.”

    Unfortunately, some of the finest, most intriguing, most delicious wines are

    made in very small quantities. Usually, those wines cost more than wines

    made in large quantities — but that’s not the only problem; the real frustra-

    tion is that those wines have very limited distribution, and you can’t always

    get your hands on a bottle even if you’re willing to pay the price. We mark

    such wines with this icon, and hope that your search proves fruitful.

    5 Introduction

    03_045795 intro.qxp 82206 8:40 PM Page 56 Wine For Dummies, 4th Edition

    03_045795 intro.qxp 82206 8:40 PM Page 6Part I

    Getting to Know

    Wine

    04_045795 pt01.qxp 82206 8:43 PM Page 7In this part . . .

    To grasp the material in this part of the book, you need

    some preliminary knowledge: what a grape is, and

    where your tongue and nose are located.

    If you have those bases covered, you’re ready to begin

    understanding and enjoying wine — even if you’ve never

    tasted wine before in your life. We start slowly so that you

    can enjoy the scenery along the way.

    04_045795 pt01.qxp 82206 8:43 PM Page 8Chapter 1

    Wine 101

    In This Chapter

    
What wine is

    
Million-dollar words like fermentation and sulfites

    
What red wine has that white wine doesn’t

    
Why color matters

    
Differences between table wine, sparkling wine, and fortified wine

    We know plenty of people who enjoy drinking wine but don’t know much

    about it. (Been there, done that ourselves.) Knowing a lot of information

    about wine definitely isn’t a prerequisite to enjoying it. But familiarity with

    certain aspects of wine can make choosing wines a lot easier, enhance your

    enjoyment of wine, and increase your comfort level. You can learn as much or

    as little as you like. The journey begins here.

    How Wine Happens

    Wine is, essentially, nothing but liquid, fermented fruit. The recipe for turning

    fruit into wine goes something like this:

    1. Pick a large quantity of ripe grapes from grapevines.

    You could substitute raspberries or any other fruit, but 99.9 percent of

    all the wine in the world is made from grapes, because they make the

    best wines.

    2. Put the grapes into a clean container that doesn’t leak.

    3. Crush the grapes somehow to release their juice.

    Once upon a time, feet performed this step.

    4. Wait.

    In its most basic form, winemaking is that simple. After the grapes are crushed,yeasts (tiny one-celled organisms that exist naturally in the vineyard and,therefore, on the grapes) come into contact with the sugar in the grapes’

    juice and gradually convert that sugar into alcohol. Yeasts also produce

    05_045795 ch01.qxp 82206 8:44 PM Page 9carbon dioxide, which evaporates into the air. When the yeasts are done

    working, your grape juice is wine. The sugar that was in the juice is no longer

    there — alcohol is present instead. (The riper and sweeter the grapes, the

    more alcohol the wine will have.) This process is called fermentation.

    What could be more natural?

    Fermentation is a totally natural process that doesn’t require man’s participa-

    tion at all, except to put the grapes into a container and release the juice

    from the grapes. Fermentation occurs in fresh apple cider left too long in

    your refrigerator, without any help from you. In fact we read that milk, which

    contains a different sort of sugar than grapes do, develops a small amount of

    alcohol if left on the kitchen table all day long.

    Speaking of milk, Louis Pasteur is the man credited with discovering fermenta-

    tion in the nineteenth century. That’s discovering, not inventing. Some of those

    apples in the Garden of Eden probably fermented long before Pasteur came

    along. (Well, we don’t thi ......