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Drink This: Wine Made Simple [Hardcover]

Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl
3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)

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Book Description

November 24, 2009
Ever been baffled by a wine list, stood perplexed before endless racks of bottles at the liquor store, or ordered an overpriced bottle out of fear of the scathing judgment of a restaurant sommelier? Before she became a James Beard Award—winning food and wine writer, Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl experienced all these things. Now she presents a handy guide that will show you how to stop being overwhelmed and intimidated, how to discover, respect, and enjoy your own personal taste, and how to be whatever kind of wine person you want to be, from budding connoisseur to someone who simply gets wine you like every time you buy a bottle.

Refreshingly simple, irreverent, and witty, Drink This explains all the insider stuff that wine critics assume you know. It will teach you how to taste and savor wine, alone, with a friend, or with a group. And perhaps most important, this book gives you the tools to learn the only thing that really matters about wine: namely, figuring out what you like.

Grumdahl draws on her own experience and savvy and interviews some of the world’s most renowned critics, winemakers, and chefs, including Robert M. Parker, Jr., Paul Draper, and Thomas Keller, who share their wisdom about everything from pairing food and wine to the inside scoop on what wine scores and reviews really mean. Readers will learn how to master tasting techniques and understand the winemaking process from soil to cellar. Drink This also reveals how to get your money’s worth out of wine without spending all you’ve got.

At last there’s a reason for wary wine lovers to raise a glass in celebration. Savor the insider’s viewpoint and straight talk of Drink This, and watch your intimidation of wine transform into well-grounded, unshakeable confidence.

Frequently Bought Together

Drink This: Wine Made Simple + Great Wine Made Simple: Straight Talk from a Master Sommelier + The Wine Bible
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Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

*Starred Review* It’s all about the grape, stupid! No, that’s not an entirely appropriate tone to set in identifying the basic premise of this welcome and enjoyable book. Indeed, as James Beard Award–winning wine writer and restaurant critic Grumdahl avers and asserts throughout her knowledgeable and buoyant text, wine is all about how and where grapes are grown. But never in this perfectly accessible course in wine appreciation is the author’s attitude toward the reader anything but supportive, considerate, and sympathetic to the intimidations inherent in being conversant in the language of wine. She admits she found understanding wine overwhelming at the outset of her career, and this admission underscores her careful explanations of how to negotiate wine lists in restaurants, build your own wine collections, how and with what to serve various wines, and how to comprehend the layouts of wine shops. Competence is what she seeks to instill in her readers, and her own is obvious from the first page. Her “teaching” method is based on her belief that “what you like is the only thing that matters. It’s your taste.” The book’s format is attractive and comfortable, adding to its appeal. For all active cookery collections. --Brad Hooper

Review

"If you haven't lived with reading Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl every week, you have missed the reason why we humans have opposing thumbs. They're there so you can keep turning her pages. With Dara doing a wine book, the days are over of buying bottles because the labels match your home team colors. Be bamboozled and intimidated no more. Dara is about to give you the best and easiest kind of wine smarts, and gift you a good read in the bargain." —Lynne Rossetto Kasper, host of The Splendid Table®, public radio's food show from American Public Media (NPR)

"Most wine books have left me feeling like I am bringing a knife to a swordfight, completely underprepared. Not this one. Drink This is what I've been waiting for. Finally, a must-have book for the vino-challenged! For over a decade I have relied on Dara Grumdahl's insight and common sense wisdom regarding all matters related to food and wine, and now luckily, so can everyone else with this helpful, funny and accessible guide to determining your favorite wines." —Andrew Zimmern

"Dara Grumdahl is right about absolutely everything. If she calls me up at four in the morning, says 'Get dressed, get some money—and a gun—you'll need it where we're eating,' I don't ask any questions. I just go." —Anthony Bourdain

"Dara Moskowitz's writing comes across immediately; it also gets under your skin. Whether writing about restaurants, food, wine, travel, art, literature, music, architecture—or all of those things in a single piece—she is always writing about a milieu, the manners, expectations, fears, and desires of a particular place and time. She is alluring and instructive; as much as Pauline Kael or Lester Bangs. Her work shows what a critic can do and what she can be." —Greil Marcus

"Straight-forward, clearly organized and ambitiously witty, [Drink This]  makes reading about wine fundamentals interesting again. Includes many "conversations" with bigwigs in the industry, provocative sidebars, and a clever "what's to love/hate" approach to major grapes. —Epicurious.com

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 384 pages
  • Publisher: Ballantine Books; 1 edition (November 24, 2009)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0345511654
  • ISBN-13: 978-0345511652
  • Product Dimensions: 5.7 x 1.1 x 9.6 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #355,569 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

3.8 out of 5 stars
(16)
3.8 out of 5 stars
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 22 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Makes for a fun party December 16, 2009
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Years ago Dara wrote a food column with step-by-step instructions for learning the concept of "dry". Several friends and I had a blast (aided by 6 bottles of wine and as many beers) as we compared wines, beers, cheeses, fruits and crackers to get an in-depth understanding of dry. At the time, we wished Dara would do more of this type of writing. Now she has. I assembled my friends together again and we started with the Zinfandel chapter. As one friend said after the Zinfandel was gone, "I could have learned this in a class, but this was much more fun." It was also educational. By following Dara's instructions, I finally can taste pepper, cinnamon or blackberries in wine. We are already planning our next wine tasting party. Read This.
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16 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Unlike so many wine books -- which usually give lots of current vintage recommendations, but don't really help you to understand how to understand your own preferences -- this book gives you a foundation from which to build your personal wine knowledge. Even if you've been piecing it together on your own for years, this little tome puts it all together in one place, and presents a logical, practical and fun method for exploring. The novel "tasting marker" idea is one I've never heard of, but it works beautifully. The insights into history and wine production are invaluable, and it's all presented in the author's signature cheeky style. (There are more than a few laugh-out-loud moments in each chapter.) When I was first drinking wine 20 years ago, I acquired several wine books, which are mostly worthless now because the recommendations in them are dated. This is a timeless wine book that will be just as relevant and informative in 20 years as it is right now.
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18 of 23 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars the perfect first book about wine December 4, 2009
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
I bought this book for myself and then went out the next day and bought three more for gifts. It's a perfect first book about wine. It answers all kinds of questions like "is it ever okay to put ice in your wine" in a clear and non-condescending way, plus it gives you a good explanation of some major types of wine. But mostly I appreciate how it helps you be able to explain what you love about wine, what flavors you enjoy, not what someone else dictates. It's also witty and fun to read. Moskowitz is a restaurant reviewer in Minneapolis and her writing is always a pleasure. I would probably read anything she wrote. Thank god her first book is about wine and not lutefisk (look it up).
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4.0 out of 5 stars Drink this book December 31, 2012
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book was first found in our library and we checked it out so many times you would have thought we owned it-noe we do. Great reference book
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5.0 out of 5 stars a great book to have and to give August 5, 2011
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Drink This is great for someone who wants to take their understanding of wine to the next level. Dara has an instructional method that is repeatable, measurable and easy to follow. I purchased this book for myself and for my neighbor. So far, we have read the Zinfandel & Sauvignon Blanc chapters, followed by respective tastings. As someone new to Zinfandel, I found the chapter informative with easy-to-remember bits of triva that I now use when describing Zinfandel to others. For the SB, I have always loved the grape but I would only buy SB from Marlborough. After our tasting, I have found that I also like a Chilean version, do not like French SB (minerality) but am in love with White Bordeaux. Who knew? I could go on, but I will rest with saying that if you like wine but could use help understanding nuances and why you like what you like, you will like this book. And get a copy for your neighbor, she'll need to read up too for your upcoming tasting.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining AND Helpful. I learned a lot! December 30, 2010
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
When you want to understand the difference between varietals, and the variance in quality of different wine prices, look no further than this entertaining read. You'll walk away knowing enough to start your own life-long wine-learning adventure.
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12 of 19 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars OK, for a beginner January 26, 2010
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Basically, information in the book is good for a beginner as long as the beginner sticks to her method of learning to taste wine; that is try 2 wines of the same variety from different wineries at a lower, middle and upper price level. There are, however, serious errors of substance in the book, and she is very parochial, in her choice of wines, seemingly to be in love with Napa and Sonoma wines and French and Italian wines, with a few Australian wines thrown in. She completely or almost completely ignores California's Central Coast wineries and those of Southern California, Oregon vineyards and most Washington vineyards. One of her serious errors is that, she states that Pinot Grigio or Pinot Gris is a spontaneous mutation of Pinot Noir when in fact Pinot Grigio/Gris, Pinot Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and 10 other grape varieties that are used to make wine are crosses between the "Pinot" prototype and an obscure vine called Gouais Blanc. That was determined by Dr. Carole Meredith, professor emeritus at the University of California at Davis , by means of DNA typing and has been known since the early 1990's.

She, also, denigrates the wines that are available at Costco and Target Stores. I cannot speak to the quality of wines at Target Stores, as I have never shopped for wine at Target, but I have shopped at Costco. While the Australian "critter wines" are most available, I have seen wines from boutique wineries in California, such as, Opolo and La Crema vineyards, and larger wineries such as Hahn. She, in addition, calls Hahn, a "bottom shelf" wine; however, I don't believe that a winery that has won 27 gold medals for their wines in one year should be called a "bottom shelf" wine.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars Probably more than you want to know
If, as McCarthy and Mulligan suggest, there is an audience of people who prefer an introduction to wine based on a limited number of grape varieties, this book was intended to... Read more
Published 8 months ago by PAUL DEBARY
5.0 out of 5 stars Drink this, wine made simple
absolutely wonderful book. well written and easy to read. very informative. She attained her objective - to take some of the mystery out of learning about wine.
Published on March 17, 2010 by D. Hamblin
5.0 out of 5 stars New approach to tasting
Grumdahl posits a unique new approach to tasting. Instead of going through a bunch of varietal or regional labels in a designated price group, she advocates tasting variations on... Read more
Published on January 21, 2010 by R. Drinkhouse
1.0 out of 5 stars Too basic
This book really adds nothing new that has not been written about over the last 20 years in the wine world. Read more
Published on January 4, 2010 by John M. Glas
3.0 out of 5 stars Not a great guide and a bit offensive
Not as informative as I would have liked and covers only select number of wines.
The author has an engaging style but I found myself wishing for more concise descriptions of... Read more
Published on December 27, 2009 by Richard Howlin
2.0 out of 5 stars Trying too hard to be "newbie friendly"
No one likes books written by wine snobs and "know it alls" and Dara dislikes that group as much as anyone. Read more
Published on December 9, 2009 by E. Coffin
1.0 out of 5 stars My Opinion
There is nothing horrible about "Drink this" but there is nothing really great either. Overall she seems to take a sort of "babying" approach, acting like you have never drank wine... Read more
Published on December 6, 2009 by Nicole
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