The Art of Decanting: Bringing Wine to Life [Hardcover]

Sandra Jordan (Author), Lindsey Lee Johnson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2006

Wine is much more than a beverage to be enjoyedit's an experience that has a culture all its own. The Art of Decanting explores these rituals, tracing the evolution of wine presentation and its rich lore. Author Sandra Jordan, of Sonoma's acclaimed Jordan wines, unearths unusual practices in wine history and sifts through centuries of rituals and accoutrements such as wine furniture, vessels, corks, corkscrews, glassware, and specifically decanters, to demystify their modern interpretations and explain how they are properly used today. With a handy entertaining guide that brings all the information into a practical light, The Art of Decanting and a bottle of wine will transform the most casual of gatherings into an evening to remember.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Sandra Jordan is Creative Director of Jordan Vineyards & Winery in Healdsburg, California. She designs a high-end line of wine country-inspired art and jewelry. This is her first book.

Lindsey Lee Johnson is a former writer for Art & Living magazine. She lives in Sherman Oaks, California.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 132 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books; First Printing edition (October 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811856798
• ISBN-13: 978-0811856799
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 8.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #749,218 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The perfect hostess present, January 9, 2007

By 

Elena S. Danielson - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Art of Decanting: Bringing Wine to Life (Hardcover)

A sumptuous present for less than the cost of a bottle of wine, Sandra Jordan's "Art of Decanting" is a pleasure to look at, informative to read, and creates just the right mood for building friendships over a shared decanter of wine. And she is right about decanting. I thought it was a lot of hooey (if that is the technical term), but I pulled an old wedding-present decanter out of the back of the closet and followed her directions. In a blind testing of the same wine decanted and straight from the bottle, you could tell the difference even before tasting by the perfume in the glass of decanted wine. I bought several copies of the books for friends right away.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Compact and Unique Treasure, February 3, 2007

By 

EAH (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Art of Decanting: Bringing Wine to Life (Hardcover)

This charming book discusses the mystique of wine and wine tasting and includes furnishings, glassware and recipes. The language is lyrical, the photographs are beautiful, and the information is enlightening. Whether a novice or connoisseur, this compact gem has something for everyone who enoys wine.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Informative book, February 10, 2008

By 

LinAnne "Lin22" (Puget Sound) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Art of Decanting: Bringing Wine to Life (Hardcover)

This is an informative book. It is not just a hardback book on decanting wine, but this book also gives a nice history of all the accessories used when serving wine (such as coasters, wine buckets, wine tables, etc).

The "menu" located in the back of this book is not very useful. In fact, I would not even recommend trying those recipes,(even if I were an advanced cook).

The photos are wonderful, especially the historical photos.

This book was written by Ms. Jordan , who works for Jordan Winery, so almost all the wine bottles shown in this book are from the Jordan Winery. But to me, that's OK because the historical information and the decanting information are what are really worth reading anyhow. In other words, I would take the information expressed in this book and apply it to any wine bottle used,(when you're presenting wine at your table).