Barbara Nowak - The Everything Wine Book: From Chardonnay to Zinfandel, All You Need to Make the Perfect Choice

The EVERYTHING Series

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THE
EVERYTHING
WINE
BOOK
2nd Edition

Completely Updated!

By the Saucy Sisters
Barbara Nowak and Beverly Wichman

Adams Media
Avon, Massachusetts

To Mom and Dad

Copyright 1997, 2005 F+W Publications, Inc. All rights reserved.
This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher; exceptions are made for brief excerpts used in published reviews.

An Everything Series Book.
Everything and everything.com are registered trademarks of F+W Publications, Inc.

Published by Adams Media, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
57 Littlefield Street, Avon, MA 02322 U.S.A.
www.adamsmedia.com
ISBN 13: 978-1-59337-357-3
ISBN 10: 1-59337-357-0
Printed in the United States of America.

J I H G F E D C B

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Nowak, Barbara.
The everything wine book. 2nd ed. / Barbara Nowak and Beverly Wichman.
p. cm.
An everything series book
Rev. ed. of: The everything wine book / Danny May and Andy Sharpe. cl997
ISBN 1-59337-357-0
1. Wine and wine making. I. Wichman, Beverly. II. May, Danny.
Everything wine book. III. Title. IV. Series: Everything series.
TP548M4585 2005
641.2'2dc22
2005011016

This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information with regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional advice. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought.

From a Declaration of Principles jointly adopted by a Committee of the American Bar Association and a Committee of Publishers and Associations

Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book and Adams Media was aware of a trademark claim, the designations have been printed with initial capital letters.

This book is available at quantity discounts for bulk purchases.
For information, please call 1-800-289-0963.

Contents

Foreword

The Saucy Sisters were touring California Wine Country a number of years ago and I had the great fortune to meet them. I was immediately captivated by their curiosity about wine and food and their quest for understanding everything related to wine and food. Their enthusiasm has now been captured in their book.

The Everything Wine Book is the product of the Saucy Sisters' passion and knowledge conveyed in a meaningful way that any reader will find interesting. I grew up in a wine family and in the wine business and have read innumerable books to expand my learning. I found The Everything Wine Book provided a historic perspective on wine worldwide. A broad range of facts on how wine is made, and how it tastes, how to buy it are just a few of the morsels that are covered in a concise, authoritative and authentic manner. The Saucy Sisters have also dealt with and helped to dispel many myths often associated with wine. I will share this book with everyone I know as a fun and informative read. Anyone who picks up this book will thoroughly enjoy it!

The Top Ten Wine Myths

1. Aged wine is better than young wine. (Not all wines need aging. Generally speaking, red winesparticularly those high in tanninsrequire more aging than whites.)

2. Red wine should never be chilled. (Some light reds, like Beaujolais, benefit from chilling.)

3. Reserve wines are top of the line. (Reserve on American wine labels has no legal meaning. Winemakers can use the term at their whim.)

4. Wines with sulfites will give you a headache. (Sulfites are the cause of headaches in only about 1 percent of the populationmostly asthmatics.)

5. All German wines are sweet. (German wines come in all degrees of sweetnessfrom dry to very, very sweet. Trocken on a German wine label means dry)

6. Screwtops are a sign of cheap wine. (Au contraire! Increasingly, top winemakers are using screw tops to avoid cork contamination of their wines.)

7. Wines should always breathe. (In general, breathing is only necessary for wines that need further aging.)

8. All wines have the same amount of alcohol. (The level of alcohol depends on the amount of sugar that has been converted during fermentation.)

9. The more a wine costs, the better it is. (Price is related to many factors: the cost of the vineyard land, the type of grapes used, whether it's aged in oak barrels, andmost of allthe reputation of the winery or winemaker.)

10. Zinfandel is a pink wine. (Zinfandel is a red grape, but it can be made into a red wine or a blush wine.)

Introduction

Would you care for a bottle of wine to go with your dinner? These words have struck terror in the hearts of four-star generals and million-dollar-a-game athletes. What if you choose the WRONG one! Who knows how wine got to be so intimidating? In most of the wine-drinking world, wine is just a part of daily life. No big deal. It's something to be savored and appreciatedbut not something to lose sleep over.

Maybe you haven't lost any sleep, but chances are, you've been overwhelmed by the sheer volume of wine choices out there. You walk into a wine shop or discount warehouse and don't know where to start. Even when you've decided between red and white, that still leaves half. Okay, you focus on reds from California. Now what: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Zinfandel? Then you have to narrow it down further to region (Napa? Sonoma? Santa Barbara?) and producer. Napa alone has over 300 wineries. Yikes! It just makes you want to throw up your hands and let someone else choose for you.

Wine shouldn't be nerve-racking. It should be fun. And the interesting thing about wine is that the more you learn and taste, the more you want to learn and taste. Even the exalted Master of Wine professionals who can tell a Zinfandel from a Shiraz at 100 paces started just like you: one wine at a time. And every one of them will tell you that you can never know everything there is to know about wine. It's a subject that, by its very nature, changes every daynew vintages, start-up wineries, young winemakers, DNA revelations about old grape varieties. And that, of course, is part of the challenge and part of the enjoyment.