Tasting Victory

Author: Gerard Basset
Publisher: Unbound Publishing
ISBN: 1783528613
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 245

Book Description
This the memoir of Gerard Basset, OBE, the greatest wine professional of his generation. A school dropout, Gerard had to come to England to discover his passion. He threw himself into learning everything he could about wine, immersing himself in the world of Michelin star restaurants and beginning the steep climb to the top of the career ladder. Tasting Victory charts his business successes: co-founding and selling the innovative Hotel du Vin chain and founding, with his wife Nina, the much-loved Hotel TerraVina. It recounts in detail just how he managed to earn his unprecedented sequence of qualifications; Gerard is the first and only individual to hold the famously difficult Master of Wine qualification simultaneously with that of Master Sommelier and MBA in Wine Business. But it is his pursuit of the most important award of all that forms the core of this book – how, at his seventh attempt, and after a training regime that would shame most Olympic athletes, the fifty-three-year-old Gerard Basset was finally crowned the Best Sommelier of the World, and acknowledged as the greatest sommelier of his generation. Gerard's memoir is not only the story of how a champion is made, but also a record of how fine dining and hospitality changed in England, going from stale and unexciting to the world-leading sector it is today. Above all, it’s a book about succeeding against great odds: in typical fashion it was when he was diagnosed with cancer of the oesophagus that Gerard responded by deciding to write Tasting Victory, which he completed shortly before his death in January 2019.

Judgment of Paris

Author: George M. Taber
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1416547894
Category : Cooking
Languages : en
Pages : 347

Book Description
The only reporter present at the mythic Paris Tasting of 1976 for the first time introduces the eccentric American winemakers and records the tremendous aftershocks of this historic event that changed forever the world of wine. The Paris Tasting of 1976 will forever be remembered as the landmark event that transformed the wine industry. At this legendary contest—a blind tasting—a panel of top French wine experts shocked the industry by choosing unknown California wines over France’s best. George M. Taber, the only reporter present, recounts this seminal contest and its far-reaching effects, focusing on three gifted unknowns behind the winning wines: a college lecturer, a real estate lawyer, and a Yugoslavian immigrant. With unique access to the main players and a contagious passion for his subject, Taber renders this historic event and its tremendous aftershocks—repositioning the industry and sparking a golden age for viticulture across the globe. With an eclectic cast of characters and magnificent settings, Judgment of Paris is an illuminating tale and a story of the entrepreneurial spirit of the new world conquering the old.

Money, Taste, and Wine

Author: Mike Veseth
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1442234644
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 209

Book Description
“It’s complicated!” That’s a simple way to describe the sort of relationship that seemingly defies simple explanations. Like a love triangle, money, taste, and wine are caught in a complicated relationship affecting every aspect of the wine industry and wine enthusiast experience. As wine economist and best-selling author Mike Veseth peels back the layers of the money-taste-wine story, he discovers the wine buyer’s biggest mistake (which is to confuse money and taste) and learns how to avoid it, sips and swirls dump bucket wines and Treasure Island wines, and toasts anything but Champagne. He bulks up with big-bag, big-box wines and realizes that sometimes the best wine is really a beer. Along the way he questions wine’s identity crisis, looks down his nose at wine snobs and cheese bores, follows the money, surveys the restaurant war battleground, and imagines wines that even money cannot buy before concluding that money, taste, and wine might have a complicated relationship but sometimes they have the power to change the world. His engaging and enlightening book will surprise, inform, inspire, and delight anyone with an interest in wine—or complicated relationships.

Around the World in Eighty Wines

Author: Mike Veseth
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1442257377
Category : Cooking
Languages : en
Pages : 225

Book Description
Inspired by Jules Verne’s classic adventure tale, celebrated editor-in-chief of The Wine Economist Mike Veseth takes his readers Around the World in Eighty Wines. The journey starts in London, Phileas Fogg’s home base, and follows Fogg’s itinerary to France and Italy before veering off in search of compelling wine stories in Syria, Georgia, and Lebanon. Every glass of wine tells a story, and so each of the eighty wines must tell an important tale. We head back across Northern Africa to Algeria, once the world’s leading wine exporter, before hopping across the sea to Spain and Portugal. We follow Portuguese trade routes to Madeira and then South Africa with a short detour to taste Kenya’s most famous Pinot Noir. Kenya? Pinot Noir? Really! The route loops around, visiting Bali, Thailand, and India before heading north to China to visit Shangri-La. Shangri-La? Does that even exist? It does, and there is wine there. Then it is off to Australia, with a detour in Tasmania, which is so cool that it is hot. The stars of the Southern Cross (and the title of a familiar song) guide us to New Zealand, Chile, and Argentina. We ride a wine train in California and rendezvous with Planet Riesling in Seattle before getting into fast cars for a race across North America, collecting more wine as we go. Pause for lunch in Virginia to honor Thomas Jefferson, then it’s time to jet back to London to tally our wines and see what we have learned. Why these particular places? What are the eighty wines and what do they reveal? And what is the surprise plot twist that guarantees a happy ending for every wine lover? Come with us on a journey of discovery that will inspire, inform, and entertain anyone who loves travel, adventure, or wine.

Reds, Whites and Varsity Blues

Author:
Publisher: Pavilion
ISBN: 9781909108288
Category : Cooking
Languages : en
Pages : 256

Book Description
“I trawled through the University Handbook trying to locate an activity that was a) cheap and b) would render me irresistible to women. And then I saw it. The Oxford University Wine Circle: £2 a term, four tastings. I would be a wine taster – suave, elegant, worldly ... Nirvana beckoned.” Oz Clarke, Pembroke College, Oxford University blind wine-tasting competitor 1970, 1971 2013 marks the 60th Anniversary of the Oxford & Cambridge Varsity Blind Wine-Tasting Competition. Started in 1953 by the legendary Harry Waugh of John Harvey & Sons, the competition has been sponsored by Champagne Pol Roger since 1992. The oldest contest of its kind, the tasting match has fostered the careers of many leading members of the wine trade and press, including a number of Masters of Wine, and has cultivated fine wine enthusiasts internationally and encouraged the discipline of blind wine tasting, a notoriously difficult feat. To celebrate this iconic rivalry – rife with politics, subterfuge, camaraderie and enduring friendships – its history over six decades has now been documented, through a lavishly illustrated collection of special contributions and vivid oral histories. With contributions from notable blind wine-tasting competitors and competition judges including: Robert M Parker Jr; Harry Waugh; Hugh Johnson OBE; Jancis Robinson OBE MW; David Peppercorn MW; Serena Sutcliffe MW; Oz Clarke; Charles Metcalfe; Jasper Morris MW; Arabella Woodrow MW; Will Lyons; Nancy Gilchrist MW; Sir Ewen Fergusson GCMG GCVO; Mark Savage MW; Julian Jeffs QC; the Rt Hon Sir Timothy Sainsbury; the Rt Hon the Lord King of Bridgwater CH; Robin Don MW; John Harvey; John Avery MW; the Hon Michael MacKellar AM; Bill Gunn MW; James Simpson MW; Lisa Barnard; Jeremy Seysess; Alex Hunt MW; Andrew Comrie-Picard; Michael Broadbent MW; Nicholas de Rothschild; Hsien Min Toh and many, many more ...

Wine Wars II

Author: Mike Veseth
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1538163845
Category : Cooking
Languages : en
Pages : 237

Book Description
Here’s the inside scoop on the wine world. Globalization has pushed back the borders of the wine world, creating a complex, interconnected market where Old World and New World wines and producers compete head to head. Writing with wit and verve, Mike Veseth (a.k.a. the Wine Economist) tells the compelling story of the war between the market forces that are redrawing the world wine map and the terroirists who resist them. This is the battle for the future of wine—and for its soul. The fight isn't just over bottles bought and sold, however; power and taste are also at stake. Who will call the shots in the wine market of the future? Who will set the price? Whose palate will prevail? Veseth masterfully brings all of these questions together in the only book on the wine business written for all lovers of wine. Wine Wars II begins by exploring wine globalization, where readers follow “Missionaries, Migrants, and Market Reforms” to faraway New Zealand and learn how to unlock the secrets of their local retail “Wine Wall” by mastering the “DaVino Code.” Globalization brings a world of wine to our doorsteps. Commodification helps us make sense of the resulting embarrassment of riches, but at a cost. Readers must decide if they are Martians or Wagnerians, consider why “They Always Buy the Ten Cent Wine,” and then probe the puzzle of “Outlaws, Prisoners, and the Great Escape.” Who stands in the way of the global wine market's assault on wine's very soul? The“Revenge of the Terroirists!” Resistance is not futile, because 'We Are All Terroirists Now,” but that doesn't mean the future of wine is secure. A final section explores “Wine's Triple Crisis,” environmental crisis plus economic crisis, plus identity crisis. Taken together these crises pose the most serious threat to wine as we know and love it. Each section of Wine Wars II ends with a suggested wine tasting that invites readers to experience the book's ideas and arguments with all their senses by sampling a few carefully chosen wines. Can the soul of wine survive – and thrive – in this unfriendly environment? You'll have to read Wine Wars II to find out!

Extreme Wine

Author: Mike Veseth
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
ISBN: 1442219246
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 243

Book Description
In Extreme Wine, wine economist and best-selling author Mike Veseth circles the globe searching for the best, worst, cheapest, most expensive, and most over-priced wines. Mike seeks out the most outrageous wine people and places and probes the biggest wine booms and busts. Along the way he applauds celebrity wines, tries to find wine at the movies, and discovers wines that are so scarce that they are almost invisible. Why go to such extremes? Because, Mike argues, the world of wine is growing and changing, and if you want to find out what’s really happening you can’t be afraid to step over the edge. Written with verve and appreciation for all things wine, Extreme Wine will surprise and delight readers.

Competition Wine Judging

Author: Rick Jelovsek
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781977213457
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 152

Book Description
Written for Wine Lovers who are invited to judge wines in national or international competitions, students enrolled in certification programs for wine judging, writers who critique wines in printed or social media and practicing Competition Wine Judges who wish to continue their experiences and negotiate the different opinions they encounter when scoring wines with other judges.

American Rhone

Author: Patrick J. Comiskey
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520965140
Category : Cooking
Languages : en
Pages : 351

Book Description
"Thoughtfully conceived and very well written, this is essential somm reading."—The Somm Journal "This is the most important wine book of the year, perhaps in many years."—The Seattle Times "Crisply written, impeccably researched, balanced if fundamentally enthusiastic, scholarly but accessible, and full of unexpected details and characters."—The World of Fine Wine No wine category has seen more dramatic growth in recent years than American Rhône–variety wines. Winemakers are devoting more energy, more acreage, and more bottlings to Rhône varieties than ever before. The flagship Rhône red, Syrah, is routinely touted as one of California’s most promising varieties, capable of tremendous adaptability as a vine, wonderfully variable in style, and highly expressive of place. There has never been a better time for American Rhône wine producers. American Rhône is the untold history of the American Rhône wine movement. The popularity of these wines has been hard fought; this is a story of fringe players, unknown varieties, and longshot efforts finding their way to the mainstream. It’s the story of winemakers gathering sufficient strength in numbers to forge a triumph of the obscure and the brash. But, more than this, it is the story of the maturation of the American palate and a new republic of wine lovers whose restless tastes and curiosity led them to Rhône wines just as those wines were reaching a critical mass in the marketplace. Patrick J. Comiskey’s history of the American Rhône wine movement is both a compelling underdog success story and an essential reference for the wine professional.

Wine Folly

Author: Madeline Puckette
Publisher: Avery
ISBN: 1592408990
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 242

Book Description
"A hip, new guide to wine for the new generation of wine drinkers, from the sommelier creators of the award-wining site WineFolly.com"--Provided by publisher.