Customer Reviews

Alpana Pours: About Being a Woman, Loving Wine, and Having Great Relationships

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I know a thing or two about wine although I don't have wine fetish. This was the most readable and enjoyable book on wine. Many other books I've looked at made my eyes glaze over with the over-detailed, dry, technical explanations. This book was a revelation. I read it cover to cover in two nights flat. It is knowlegeable and provides practical advice. It is unpretentious, sassy, and doesn't assume prior knowlege, and it's fun! (What other wine book would give you a Master Sommelier's advice for pairing wine with potato chips or Pecans and Pralines Hagen Das?) It was a fun read, and I'm keeping it as a reference. The sub title of "about being a woman" is unfortunate because I think a lot of men would benefit from the advice given in the book.

I've read three books on wine, and this is by far my favorite. Even though it is primarily geared toward women (and I'm all man, baby), male wine novices will also enjoy it, because the overriding theme is that wine does not have to be complicated - it only has to be fun and enjoyable. The prose is written in a lighthearted style that makes reading it a breeze. ALPANA POURS is educational without going too deeply into wine esoterics that only confuse most aspiring oenophiles. I will admit that some chapters - such as when Ms. Singh selects a wine for each zodiac sign - are a little airy, but all in all, this was a fun and informative read. Oh, and by the way - the wine chosen for my zodiac (Syrah) turned out to be a new favorite!

"Alpana Pours" is not like any wine book you're likely to see mixed into the endless pages about wine on Amazon. Instead of overwhelming you with arcane facts and vintages, Alpana Singh (TV hostess of Chicago's "Check Please" restaurant review show on PBS) has written a lifestyle book centered on the subject of feeling comfortable around wine. It seems that for most people, wine can be a little intimidating. Most of us go to a nice restaurant, get handed a wine list, and then proceed to squirm in our seats, unsure what to order yet wishing to appear confident that the wine we select will be worth the big bucks we will pay out to enjoy this pleasure.

Alpana has taken all of the mystery, but none of the fun, out of enjoying wine. Noting that 77 percent of American women buy and consume wine, she has chosen this group to focus on in her book, although her lessons (and wine tricks) will be just as usable by the male species.

Singh worked for years at one of Chicago's most glamorous (and expensive) restaurants, Everest, as a Master Sommelier before taking on the role of TV show hostess. Engaged in the business of wine from an early age, she relates to young women and their tastes and anxieties. She breaks down wine into easy-to-use categories, while never diminishing the complexity of her subject. Instead, she presents tools to show her readers how to select a wine depending on their own tastes, for food pairing, for party purchases, and for the sheer enjoyment of a great glass at home.

This is a wonderful book for anyone (and that probably includes most of us) who wants to know more about wine, how to choose it and enjoy it to the fullest capacity. This makes a fun gift for the holidays or would make a great housewarming present. While everyone may not care about the dating and relationship information that makes up a share of the book, there is so much practical knowledge about enjoying wine that it would be easy to skip over and get to the heart of the subject.

Singh addresses wines at all price levels. She talks about how to get the best out of a cheap bottle, which glasses and gadgets you really need, how to determine which wine would work best at various meals (including something as perplexing as a potluck!), and a host of other topics that you will put to good use on a regular basis. "Alpana Pours" is a tiny gem in a sea of wine tomes, and there isn't a higher recommendation than that!

Christine Zibas, Book Pleasures

Alpana shows us all how we can relate to wine. Considering how accomplished she is, she is so down to earth. This is a great girlfiend book and men would like it too - It's just really fun!

This book is not just for the ladies! Anyone who loves wine and would like to learn a few more basics (I've learned a lot reading this) in a fun, easy to read format will LOVE this book. It is a total page-turner...can't put it down. I'm ordering several more as gifts for all my win-loving friends! Highly recommend.

The book is filled with humor and interesting stories as well as an excellent resource to help you make wine selections. it's not at all dry.

I agree with one of the other reviewers about the poor writing style. I really wanted to like this book, because I enjoy watching Alpana on Check Please, and admire how far she's made it in the wine world. But, a lot of the writing is pretty flippant, and while I think it's meant to be written for women, some of the stuff written about women is somewhat offensive. She does seem to think that many women are completely ignorant about wine and that we're depending on our all-knowing men to rescue us in restaurants, etc. In my own personal experience, I've found things to be quite the opposite. My girlfriends and I take the time to learn about wine, while our male counterparts couldn't care less. While I find some of the information in this book to be helpful in learning about wine, there's too much emphasis on gender stereotypes, and the writing can be grating at times.

Yes, the writing style is a tad simple and breezy and yes, it's kind of a "chick book", but what I found fascinating was someone who is clearly passionate and near brilliant about wine (think how much she learned and how rapidly) sharing her conceptual schema of how to categorize and think of wines. The knowledge and memory skills inherent in becoming a master sommelier amaze me. Here you see how she learns and thinks of wine with absolutely zero pretense. Sure, I skimmed the ideas on bingeing wines, etc.; but the overall delivery was, IMO, outstanding.

Yeah, yeah, her writing style is simple. It can be read by anyone with a sixth grade education (well, maybe a ninth grade education, these days) And that's exactly her point!



This wine primer makes the reader more excited about wine. And that was clearly her intent. So skim it, use it as a bathroom reader - each entry is about the perfect length for a quick visit to the, um "reading room". Then try some of the wines (and wine exercises) she describes.



As a Master Sommelier, Alpana has serious wine chops. Her knowledge is among the top tenths of a percent of those in the wine world. For the fact she never shows off, because she never makes a reader feel bad for not knowing the secret handshake to her exclusive society, and because she chose to be a wine missionary instead of teaching masters courses, I give her kudos.



(However, as an operator of a popular, premium wine club, I take umbrage with her views on such sampling programs. They really CAN be fun, educational, and offer good values!)



Dave Chambers, Wine Merchant

SidewaysWineClub.com

Alpana writes very lighthearted. She tells her story plus the history of wine. Very enjoyable reading & not too stuffy. Every chapter you want to go out & try that wine.