Aiming to provide practical buying guidance on more than 400 of the most popular and available wines on the market, Andrea Immer's Wine Buying Guide for Everyone narrowly misses the mark. Immer, a master sommelier and author of Great Wine Made Simple, devotes the bulk of this buying guide to lists, such as "30 Most Popular Chardonnays," "The Top 50 Wines You're Not Drinking," and "Impress the Date: Hip Wines," and, in a separate section, short written reviews. Unfortunately, the lists, with no more than wine names and value and price ratings, aren't very insightful, nor are the reviews, which often seem to favor style over substance. One wishes Immer perhaps had skipped the lists entirely and made her reviews a little more full-bodied. There are redeeming qualities, however, including the Kitchen Fridge Survivor Grade, which measures how long a wine will keep after it's opened; cuisine lists, which suggest wines to go with Chinese food, pizza, and so forth; and a blank area for notes after each review so readers can track wines they've tried and jot down their impressions. This book, however, as Immer said of one wine, "offers less flavor for the money than its competitors." --Andy Boynton
Product Description
The Ultimate Buying Guide to America’s Most Popular and Accessible Wines
The first guide to buying wine that grades the top-selling premium wines in stores and restaurants: popular supermarket brands, trade-up brands, and super-premium labels. Andrea Immer, one of America’s foremost wine authorities, surveyed thousands of wine professionals and ordinary consumers, who assess what really matters most–taste and value for the money. She also provides:
•Best-of lists: The top performing wines
•Immer Best Bets: Andrea Immer’s top picks for every major buying dilemma, from inexpensive crowd pleasers to blue-chip choices for business entertaining
•“The Top Fifty Wines You’re Not Drinking”: These wines are less well known, but offer good availability and great value
•Immersion Course: Quick and easy label-reading lessons to give you instant buying expertise
•Kitchen Countertop (and Fridge) Survivor™ grades: How long will the wine keep after it’s opened? Now you’ll know the wines’ “freshness window” after opening.
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