The Unofficial Guide to Selecting Wine [Paperback]

Felicia Sherbert (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 27, 2000 | Series: Unofficial Guides (Book 13)

There's a perfect wine for every occasion, but who knows which to pick from the many available? Rest assured, The Unofficial Guide to Selecting Wine walks you through how to choose between whites, reds, vintages, and countries of origin. Learn the finer points of tasting wine, reading the label on a bottle, and understanding a restaurant wine list. When you're ready to make a purchase, this book can show you how to avoid restaurant and wine merchant mark-ups as well as how to buy wine online and at auctions.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

About the Author Felicia M. Sherbert can tell you everything you need to know about selecting wine. Felicia is a journalist who has specialized in wine for more than 15 years. She wrote and edited the best-selling Windows on the World Complete Wine Course (Sterling Publishing Co., 1985) with wine director Kevin Zraly and recently completed a major revision of the book, the Windows on the World Complete Wine Course Millennium Edition (Sterling Publishing Co., 1999). Since the book's debut in 1985, it has sold more than one million copies, making it the top-selling wine book in the United States. Before launching her own company in 1997, Felicia was a senior editor at M. Shanken Communications, Inc., the publisher of Wine Spectator, Food Arts, and Market Watch, a magazine specializing in wine and spirits trends. She continues to contribute to these and other publications, she writes a regular column called "At the Bar," in Market Watch magazine, and she is a frequent guest speaker about wine, restaurant, and retail trends. Felicia also is a founding member of the International Food & Beverage Forum, a think tank composed of food and beverage professionals. When she is not writing, Felicia enjoys sharing a glass of wine with her husband, Frost Schroeder, playing with their two children, Alexandra and Teddy, and entertaining family and friends.

Product Details

• Paperback: 528 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (March 27, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0028636686
• ISBN-13: 978-0028636689
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,525,966 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unofficial Guide to Selecting wine, April 4, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Unofficial Guide to Selecting Wine (Paperback)

As an average wine drinker who does not have a very refined palate but who enjoys a good glass of wine, I found this book to be very helpful. It is very down-to-earth and does not "talk over" the average person's head. I especially like the margin "bright ideas", etc. I would hightly recommend this book to the occasional wine drinker as well as the connoisseur (and not just because the author is my cousin)!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book, June 22, 2000

By 

P. Tackowiak "ptack" (Basking Ridge, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Unofficial Guide to Selecting Wine (Paperback)

If you occasionally drink wine and wonder why it is that some experiences are so much better than others, then this book is for you. In it the author strips away the pretentious mystery that surrounds wine drinking and encourages the reader to discover their own tastes and preferences. In a nice progression the book lets you learn as much or as little as you like. The basic premise is that the real point to drinking wine is to enjoy it. The secret to making this enjoyment consistent isn't in trying to learn obscure vintages or labels, but in understanding why you like what you like and encouraging you to follow your own tastes. Good advice for wine and and so much else.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars All Help, No Nonsense, October 20, 2003

By 

Bill Marsano (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Unofficial Guide to Selecting Wine (Paperback)

Here's a little-known truth about wine: When a person says "I really wish I knew something about wine," he's usually talking through his hat. He really means he wants to know "How can I get, for a decent price, a bottle that I'll like and that won't embarrass me in front of my friends?"

Who can blame him? When knowledgeable wine-lovers say "there are no graduates from wine school," they're not kidding. The subject is endless if--IF--what you want is to know about wine. For the enormous majority, the people who want only good drink at a good price, this book is a godsend.

Felicia Sherbert has two secrets here. The first is that she doesn't bury you in wine-geekery. She does not drone on about rootstocks, degrees Brix and clonal selection; about residual sugar, cold fermentation and barrels of oak (American or French? Limousin or Alliers? Split or sawn? Kiln-dried or air -seasoned?). It's the wine-maker's job to deal with that stuff--not yours.

Her next secret is a copious Table of Contents. Its minutely subdivided vastness allows you to get the help you need when you need it by simply sliding your finger down the page.

Planning to woo with wine over dinner? Slide down the Table of Contents to "A Little Romance." Concerned about cost? See "Pick a Price Point." Don't know how to pull a cork? Worried that it might break? Slide, my friend, slide: Felicia knows you're in trouble and is waiting with the answers. How to decant? What glass to use? How to save the leftover half-bottle? Slide, slide, slide!

After a few jaunts down the slippery slope you'll be a happier, braver person. Then you can go back to the Table of Contents and--if you wish--look for sections and subsections that pique your interest. Such as how much to buy for a party. Sweet wines for dessert. The difference between champagne and sparkling wine. How to deal with wine in a restaurant. And so on. And on.

This is a handy, helpful, no-nonsense book. Like a puppy that follows you home from school, it'll be a friend for life.--Bill Marsano has won a James Beard medal for wine and spirits writing and is the wine editor of Hemispheres, the magazine of United Airlines.