Guide to Cheeses of the World: 1200 Cheeses of the World (Hachette Food & Wine)

Customer Review: An okay book
First of all I know nothing about cheese.
This is my first cheese book I have looked at. With that being said here’s my review:

This book has some good points: 1) a dictionary of specialized cheese lingo in the back which gives pretty good descriptions of the vocabulary used in cheese making. 2) it has many cheeses, and lots of pictures for a small book.And brief sections on: 3)which cheeses are best in which times of year and 4) how to read cheese labels 4) how to serve cheese/ pair with wine. It actualy covers a lot in such a small book. (even how to introduce cheese to children). It’s written by an expert french cheese maker.

However, the book is translated from french and therefore suffers a bit in english. Sometimes it’s a bit hard to understand what they are saying since it still carries the french way of speaking though using english words. That’s just to warn you. Plus I was disappointed that it was so small in size… but it’s cheap, and I guess easy to carry around if you need to refer to it at some cheese market. It’s not a bad deal for the price and it’s a fairly good introduction to a broad range of cheese topics.

Customer Review: A Great Resource
A phenomenal resource for any lover of great cheese. The author’s knowledge and practical experience come through clearly. A little weak on coverage of American Artesan cheeses, but otherwise a good read and a great reference.

The Wine Club: A Month-by-Month Guide to Learning About Wine with Friends Everything you need to know about starting a wine club. This sassy handbook teaches you and your girlfriends the art of selecting, sampling, and sipping the fruit of the vine (while you indulge in the latest gossip, of course).

A foolproof month-by-month plan by sommelier, Maureen Petrosky, highlights all the pesky details, so you and your girlfriends can sit back and sip.

From still to sparkling and delicate whites to rich reds, each month’s chapter singles out a grape for study and enjoyment-school was never like this! This course with class includes easy-does-it entertaining tips, taste-testing know-how, and tantalizing wine facts.

Expert recommendations for brilliant wines at killer prices! What woman doesn’t love a bargain?

Wine-laden tidbits such as how to collect bottles for a personal wine stash.

Outrageously scrumptious recipes that teach you simply to pair wine and food-it’s a no-brainer.

The latest on the snazziest wine gizmos and gadgets. Shoppers, start your engines.

Demystified terminology: a short course in “wine speak” makes any wine novice comfortable when shopping for and serving wine.
Customer Review: Thank you Maureen
I love this book. It makes wine easy to understand and the recipes look awesome. I haven’t tried any yet but am looking forward to trying the pairings. Thanks for a fun, easy to understand book!
Customer Review: Wine Tasting
I bought this to share with a wine tasting group we started. We started one 7 years ago in another city and it was really successful. Trying to introduce wine to people in Texas in the dry counties is a challenge, however. I also bought a copy of this book as gift for someone. Very helpful.

Italian Wine for Dummies “A must-have book for anyone who is serious about Italian wines.”
—Lidia Bastianich, host of PBS’s Lidia’s Italian Table

“I have yet to encounter more knowledgeable guides to…Italian wine.”
—Piero Antinori, President, Antinori Wines

“Bravo to Ed and Mary! This book shows their love for Italy, the Italian producers, and the great marriage of local foods with local wines. Here is a great book that presents the information without intimidation.”
—Piero Selvaggio, VALENTINO Restaurant

Right now, Italy is the most exciting wine country on earth. The quality of Italian wines has never been higher and the range of wines has never been broader. Even better, the types of Italian wines available outside of Italy have never been greater. But with all these new Italian wines and wine zones—not to mention all the obscure grape varieties, complicate blends, strange names and restrictive wine laws—Italian wines are also about he most challenging of all to master. The time has come for comprehensive, up-to-date guides to Italian wines.

Authored by certified wine educators and authors Ed McCarthy and Mary Ewing-Mulligan, Italian Wine For Dummies introduces you to the delectable world of fine Italian wine. It shows you how to:

• Translate wine labels
• Identify great wine bargains
• Develop your own wine tastes
• Match Italian wines with foods

Here’s everything you need to know to enjoy the best Tuscans, Sicilians, Abruzzese and other delicious Italian wines. This lighthearted and informative guide explores:

• The styles of wine made in Italy and the major grape varieties used to make them
• How the Italian name their wines, the complicated laws governing how names are given and the meanings of common label terminology
• Italy’s important wine regions—including a region-by-region survey of the best vineyards and their products
• A guide to pronouncing Italian wine terms and names and how to order Italian wines in restaurants

For Italians, wine (vino) is food (alimentari) and food is love (amore). And you can never have enough love in your life. So, order a copy of Italian Wine For Dummies, today and get ready to share the love!
Customer Review: Surprisingly In Depth Despite Being a Dummies Title
A wonderful text covering Italian wine in an easy to read format. You may browse through the noted sections and glance over the meat if you want a cursory education on Italian wine. There are very few in depth texts on Italian wine, mainly due to the convoluted DOC system and the overabundance of native grape varieties and grape psuedonyms. The authors give a valiant effort that is worthy of a read.

Pros: great knowledge, easy to follow
Cons: difficult Italian systems, poor maps
Customer Review: Great for Traveling and Tasting Italy
This book helps you select wisely amoung the countless wineries and labels of the delicious wine you will taste in Italy. The book makes it easy to understand which wine taste great in the separate regions, without having to know any of the stuck-up jargon wine experts blab to sound impressive. More importantly the book does not recommend the expensive wine to be best for your palate. You will find the bottles that taste like $50, but are less than $20.

French Wine (Eyewitness Companions) Customer Review: A most helpful and slim reference book
I have bought the latest edition (2005) of this title as well as the previous one published in 1999. This is one of the most helpful reference books on the world of French wines that you can find on the bookshelves today. The book is attractive in its size (handy), layout (very easy to locate chapter titles, topic headings, etc.), illustrations (touring maps, appellation maps in nice colours and quick to understand key), succinct text (giving you enough and relevant information). The alphabetical division of the book into the major wine-making regions of France and within each chapter, the alphabetical listing of the different sub-appellations and wines makes it really practical and a most handy and quick reference when you are searching for a particular fact or need useful information on a particular French wine or region. I highly recommend this title if you are looking for a very informative, easy to use (ie. user friendly), helpful, slim, well written book on French wines with incisive and authoritative information and comments. The author’s knowledge of his subject is both deep and wide and he conveys this in an accesible manner.