Complete Idiots Guide to Wine Basics or Debbi Fields Great American Desserts

Complete Idiot's Guide to Wine Basics

Author: Tara Q Thomas

From Chardonnay to Cabernet, discover the world of wine...

The senior editor of Wine & Spirits magazine helps beginners understand everything about wine from the process to popular varieties, from tips for tasting to advice on buying, and more. She also covers world wine regions and offers tips on wine making, storage, etiquette, wine and food pairing, and entertaining.

• Author is a wine expert with contacts throughout the wine world
• The U.S. is the third largest wine-consuming nation in the world and wine consumption in the U.S. has more than doubled in the past 12 years
• Wine books are consistently strong sellers

Author Biography: Tara Q. Thomas has been a senior editor of Wine & Spirits magazine since 1996. She also serves as the wine editor for the Denver Post where she writes a bi-weekly column. She has served as editor for the 2003 and 2004 Food and Wine guides and has held staff positions at Martha Stewart Living, Vogue, and Kitchen Arts and Letters. She has a degree from the Culinary Institute of America.

Table of Contents:

Part 1	Grape Expectations: Laying Down the Basics	1
1	What Is Wine, Anyway?	3
	Fabulous Fermentation	3
	Buzzed Birds and Tipsy Princesses	4
	Growing Good Wine	5
	Turning Grapes Into Wine	13
	Endless Variation, Endless Exploration	18
2	How to Read a Wine Label	21
	The Lay of the Label	22
	Who Made It	25
	Where It's From	26
	Reservations About "Reserve" and Other Terms	28
	Which Grapes?	30
	When Vintage Matters	32
	Back Label Details	33
3	How to Taste: Get the Most Out of Your Glass	37
	Setting Up a Tasting	38
	Pop the Corks	42
	The Five Ss	44
	Putting Wine into Words	46
Part 2	What to Taste: The Big Nine	51
4	Chardonnay	53
	What It Tastes Like	54
	Where Chardonnay Grows	55
	What's Your Style?	61
5	Sauvignon Blanc	65
	The Smell of Sauvignon	65
	Where Sauvignon Shines	67
	Other Occidental Sauvignons	70
	Sauvignon's Soul Mate, Semillon	73
	Find Your Sauvignon Style	74
6	Riesling	79
	Riesling: The Acid-Head's Grape	79
	Where Riesling Gets Racy	81
	A Matter of Style	91
7	Pinot Grigio/Pinot Gris	95
	Pinot's Many Faces	95
	What's in a Name	96
	Italy's Pride and Shame	97
	Oregon's Stealth Grape	101
	Pinot Gris Around the World	102
	Picking Pinot Grigio	102
8	Cabernet Sauvignon (and Its Father, Franc)	105
	Cabernet's Hallmark Flavor	106
	Where It Grows	107
	Meet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon's Father	116
	Find Your Style	117
9	Merlot	121
	Where Merlot Grows	121
	Bordeaux, France (Again)	122
	Washington State	124
	California Merlot	125
	Italian Merlot	126
	The Rest of the World	127
	What's Your Merlot Style?	129
10	Pinot Noir	133
	What's the Attraction?	133
	Burgundy: The Pinnacle of Pinot Noir	135
	Oregon's Out Front	138
	New Zealand	140
	A Few Far-Flung Pinot Posts	140
	What's Your Style?	143
11	Syrah/Shiraz	147
	France's Northern Rhone	148
	Australia's Claim to Fame	151
	California's Rhone Rangers	154
	Washington State	156
	What's Your Style?	156
12	Zinfandel	159
	Zinfandel's Origins	160
	Zinfandel's Many Faces	161
	Zinfandel's Purview	162
	Zinternational	165
	Primitivo	165
	Which Zinfandel When?	166
Part 3	Regional Specialties	169
13	France's Fragrant Whites	171
	Chenin Blanc	172
	Gewurztraminer	174
	Muscat	175
	Viognier	176
14	Rhonely Blends from France and Beyond	179
	Lonely Rhone Whites: Marsanne and Roussanne	180
	Southern Rhone Whites	184
	Pay Dirt in Vin de Pays?	185
	Southern Rhone Reds	185
	Touring the Rhone by Glass	190
15	Iberian Interests	193
	Albarino/Alvarinho	194
	Other Iberian White Wines	196
	Which White When?	198
	Tempting Tempranillo	199
	Tastes of Tempranillo	202
	Garnacha	203
	Touriga and Portuguese Varieties	204
16	Italy's Originals	209
	A Few Caveats First	209
	Italy's Belle Bianchi	211
	Piedmont's White Alternatives	211
	Northern Stars Ribolla Gialla, Tocai Friulano	212
	Trebbiano's Reach	213
	Garganega	214
	Falanghina, Fiano, and Greco: Campania's Ancient Trio	214
	The Three V's: Verdicchio, Vernaccia, Vermentino	215
	Vini Rossi	215
	Sangiovese	216
	Nebbiolo, Piedmont's Liquid Truffle	218
	Barbera and Dolcetto	219
	Corvina	220
	Southern Specials	220
17	Underappreciated but Worth a Look	223
	A Trio of Obscure Whites	224
	Adventurous Reds	225
	Greece's Awesome Antiquities	230
Part 4	Special Styles	233
18	All That Sparkles	235
	Capturing Carbonation	236
	Decoding the Sparkling Wine Label	238
	Pick a Country, Any Country	240
	Don't Point That Thing at Me!	244
	When to Serve Sparkling Wines	245
19	Dessert Wines	247
	Let It Hang: Waiting for Sugar	248
	Holding On to Sugar	248
	Light, Fizzy Sweet Wines	249
	Sweet, Still Wines	251
	Grapes on Ice	252
	Noble Rot-No Kidding	253
20	Port and Other Fortified Wines	257
	Port	258
	Styles of Port	258
	Zinfandel "Port" and Aussie "Tawny"	260
	Setubal, Portugal's Other Fortified Wine	261
	Sherry	261
	Madeira	263
	Vin Doux Naturel	264
	Australia's Liqueur Muscat	265
Part 5	Shopping Time	267
21	Why Wine Costs What It Does	269
	The Bare Necessities	270
	Labor	272
	Getting It to the Market	274
	Retail vs. Restaurant Prices	276
	To Recap	276
22	Buying Wine and Starting a Stash	279
	Finding Your Dream Store	280
	Ordering In	282
	Finding Wine You Like	283
	Navigating on Your Own	284
	Starting a Stash	286
	What Wines to Age	287
	Where to Put It All	290
Part 6	Now You Have the Wine List...	293
23	Navigating the Wine List	295
	Basic Etiquette	296
	Business Dinner Etiquette	296
	What's a Sommelier?	297
	Take Advantage of the Sommelier	298
	Do-It-Yourself Sommelier-ing	299
	Picking Out the Best Buys	300
24	The Tasting Ceremony	303
	What to Expect	304
	The Rules of Rejection	306
	The Invisible Tasting Ceremony	307
	Decanting	307
	BYOB	309
	To Tip or Not to Tip	310
Part 7	Let's Eat (and Drink)	311
25	Pairing Wine and Food: Mechanics 101	313
	Common Sense Counts	314
	Take a Cue from the Locals	315
	Underlying Mechanics 101	317
	Parts of Wine	320
26	Company's Coming	323
	Planning Ahead	323
	Casual Affairs	326
	Ambitious Affairs	327
	Judging Amounts	328
	Etiquette	328
	When You're the Guest	329
27	Basics Down-Now What?	331
	The More You Know, the More You Don't Know	331
	Keep On Learning	332
	Free Wine	332
	Lots of Tastes, Little Cost	333
	Charity Tastings	334
	Restaurant Tastings	334
	Courses and Classes	334
	Tasting Clubs	335
	Wine Festivals	336
	Travel, Armchair and Otherwise	337
	Appendixes
A	Glossary	339
B	Wine Resources	349
	Index	355

Interesting textbook: Parliament of Whores or Spy

Debbi Fields' Great American Desserts: 100 Mouthwatering Easytoprepare Recipes

Author: Debbi Fields

FROM THE FOUNDER OF MRS. FIELDS' COOKIES, THE RENOWNED CHAIN OF COOKIE STORES, A SPECTACULAR COLLECTION OF DESSERT RECIPES

Debbi Fields, who turned a simple chocolate chip cookie into a national icon, understands America's love of desserts. In Debbi Fields' Great American Desserts, she offers 100 recipes bound to satisfy all dessert fans. Beautifully illustrated and lively, Debbi Fields' Great American Desserts presents Debbi's own down-to-earth style in easy, foolproof recipes for American favorites with delectable variations on many of them.

Try Debbi's classic Devil's Food Cake, then make her irresistible variation: four chocolate layers sandwiched with Dark Chocolate Fudge Ganache and Whipped Chocolate Espresso Filling, covered in White Chocolate Frosting. And if you think Debbi's Truffle Cake is to die for, just wait until you taste her Triple Truffle Cake. Prefer pie to cake? Then enjoy Paradise Key Lime Pie, or the heavenly Peanut Butter-Chocolate Mud Pie. Craving cheesecake? After you've baked Debbi's New York Style Cheesecake, move on to her Sweet Potato-Pecan Cheesecake with Chocolate Crust. In the mood for something simpler? Then Debbi's Banana Pudding or Strawberry-Peach Shortcake will fill the bill. And for cookie lovers, there are Caramel Macadamia Butter Cookies and Chocolate Swirled Shortbread.

With easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions, and lavishly illustrated with seventy full-color photographs, Debbi Fields' Great American Desserts will inspire cooks and bakers everywhere to create and indulge in these supremely satisfying delights.

Publishers Weekly

Fields, of the Mrs. Fields' cookie chain, knows the kinds of desserts Americans like: rich, familiar and frequently chocolate. Eschewing the honorific in her third cookbook (after Mrs. Fields' Cookie Book and Mrs. Fields' I Love Chocolate Cook), which is being published simultaneously with the appearance of a PBS TV series of the same title, she covers expected family favorites, including layer cakes, pies, icebox desserts and cookies. Chocolate remains the most favored flavor, especially in such "signature" recipes as Debbi's Devil's Food Cake, Debbi's Chocolate Cream Pie, Debbi's Fudge Mousse, and Debbi's Flourless Fudge Brownies. Fields describes herself as "almost incapable of resisting the temptation to add extra ingredients." This proclivity leads to some excess, as in Peanut Butter, Fruit, and Nut Bars, the recipe for which includes a pecan-chocolate crust topped with peanut butter, chocolate chips, peanuts, almonds, apricots, dates and coconut. More appealing are simpler recipes such as Georgia Peach Butter Cake, Lemon-Berry Bars, Sweet Potato Pie and White Chocolate Bundt Cake. Throughout, recipes are clearly presented and often accompanied by illustrative photos, although discussion of technique is limited. 200,000 first printing; first serial to Family Circle; author tour. (Sept.)

Library Journal

Bluestein and Morrissey are the authors of The 99% Fat-Free Cookbook of Appetizers and Desserts (LJ 2/15/96) and The 99% Fat-Free Cookbook (LJ 4/15/94), among other titles; this time around, they're indulging themselves. True, they do include a chapter of Healthy Cookies (low-fat, sugarless, and/or gluten-free), but there are dozens of recipes for such treats as Cappuccino-Filled Hazelnut Sandwiches, Three-Layer Brownies, and Macadamia Florentines. Instructions are particularly clear, and there is also a section on holiday cookies, from Christmas to Passover to Halloween. Highly recommended. Debbi Fields is Mrs. Fields of cookie shop fame (see Mrs. Fields Cookie Book, LJ 8/92); she has appeared often on the TV Food Network, and this book is the companion to a new PBS series. She offers lots of rich desserts, both her versions of classic favorites such as Coconut Cake and Banana Pudding and her dressed-up, more extravagant variations, such as Lemon-Cream Coconut Cake or Chocolate Banana Pudding. The recipes sound delicious, and her TV show will only increase her popularity. Recommended for most collections.