**“Compulsory reading” - The International Wine ReviewA leading travel writer guides readers on a sumptuous journey through time and flavor to understand how and why wine transformed Italy . . .**“It’s not often that a wine writer can engross and enthrall you with the history of a culture where wine merely plays its part along with many other players. Marc Millon does this absorbingly and impressively, telling the intriguing, exasperating, but ultimately optimistic...

Look. Swirl. Sniff. Taste. Savour. Whether you’re tasting a refreshing white or an aromatic red, these well-known steps are the only proper way to take the first sip of wine.How did wine surpass all other beverages to achieve global domination? In Wine, Marc Millon travels back to the origins of modern man to find the answer, discovering that this heady drink is intertwined with the roots of civilization itself. Wine traces the long history of the most complex, my...

The world is enamored with Italy: its culture, art, food, and fashion, its beautiful landscapes, and famous cities—and, of course, its wine.From the ancient Greeks to the Medici, and from fascism to feminism, Italy has always been entwined with wine. Through the millennia, it has been a celebratory libation at great events, given solace in times of despair, and fortified warriors before battle. Whether Possessioni Rosso, still made by descendants of Dante; Barolo "Lazzarito," from ...

Pour a stiff drink and crack open this comprehensive guide to everything there is to know about the world’s greatest whiskeys. Exploring the traditions behind bourbon, Scotch, Irish, and even Japanese whiskey, you’ll discover how unique flavors are created through variations of ingredients and different distilling techniques. With advice on how to collect, age, and serve whiskey, as well as suggestions for proven food pairings, you’ll be inspired to share your knowledge and invite your fri...

Gone are the days when a lonely bottle of Angostura bitters held court behind the bar. A cocktail renaissance has swept across the country, inspiring in bartenders and their thirsty patrons a new fascination with the ingredients, techniques, and traditions that make the American cocktail so special. And few ingredients have as rich a history or serve as fundamental a role in our beverage heritage as bitters.Author and bitters enthusiast Brad Thomas Parsons traces t...

The Sake Handbook is the foremost guide to the history, brewing, and distinctive flavors of sake.Just what are jizake, namazake and ginjoshu? The Sake Handbook answers all these questions and many more about sake wine, and will help you enjoy Japan's national beverage in style.Author John Gauntner is recognized as the world's leading non-Japanese sake expert. A longtime Japan resident, he is well known among sake brewers ...

Wherever and whenever people have been found talking, they have been found drinking: an age-old pastime with an equally storied history. Alcohol and civilization have developed in close quarters, sometimes supporting each other and sometimes getting in each other’s way.The School of Sophisticated Drinking, which began as an ongoing series of lectures at Berlin’s legendary Victoria Bar in 2003, traces the deep-seated lineage of drinking in the social, political, and even sc...

How bourbon came to be, and why it’s experiencing such a revival todayUnraveling the many myths and misconceptions surrounding America’s most iconic spirit, Bourbon Empire traces a history that spans frontier rebellion, Gilded Age corruption, and the magic of Madison Avenue. Whiskey has profoundly influenced America’s political, economic, and cultural destiny, just as those same factors have inspired the evolution and unique flavor of the whiskey itself.

More than 300 blue-ribbon recipes from America's heartland, updated for today's cooks!The very notion of comfort food could have begun in the farm kitchen, with its rich aromas of bubbling stew and apple pie, its stock of fresh eggs and butter and bacon, its warming custard on a cold winter's night or cool spoonful of home-churned ice cream on a steaming Fourth of July. Culled from the pages of The Farmer's Wife, the beloved magazine published and pored ove...

Jonathan Nossiter, acclaimed filmmaker and former sommelier, had his first taste of wine at the age of three in Paris, from his father's fingertip. For him, wine is "memory in its most liquid and dynamic form," as essential an expression of culture as cinema, books, baseball, painting, even sex. With great wit and passion, he celebrates wine and its enthusiasts—and defends both from those who tell us what to drink and how to think about it.In Liquid Memory, the American exp...

As the first to write a basic book in English on winemaking from the winemaker’s point of view, Philip Wagner has long been considered an authority on the subject, and his book American Wines and Wine-Making has become a bible for small producers and home winemakers in this country. Now, in this completely new version of that classic, Mr. Wagner takes into account the many dramatic changes that in recent years have revolutionized the American wine scene.With the knowledge ...

In the populist tradition of Andrea Immer, New York City’s first female whiskey sommelier translates today’s hottest spirit for a new generation of imbibersWhiskey is in the midst of a huge renaissance. Ten years ago, the United States housed sixty-nine craft distillers; today, there are more than four hundred. Exports of Scotch whisky grew 12 percent just last year. Sales are skyrocketing, and specialty bars are popping up around the country, from New York City to...