The Wine Bible

The essentials: The romance and intrigue of Burgundy of sauvignon blanc and the surprising elegance of Spain's top Riojas. Italy, one of wine's most enchanting and ancient homelands. What makes a great wine great? The reason behind Champagne's bubbles. The precise and food-friendly wines of Germany. California, wine's Camelot. The lip-smackingly good wines of Australia. The complexities of Port revealed. How a vineyard profoundly affects a wine's character.

Plus, matching wine with food - and mood. The secrets of professional wine tasters and how to expand your wine-tasting vocabulary. And everything else you need to know to buy, store, serve, and enjoy the world's most captivating beverage.

The shimmering elegance of Veuve Clicquot, affordable luxury in a glass, page 185.

Ravishing, elegant, and rich, Petrus in Ingrid Bergman in red satin, page 156.

Some wines are like people... they get better as they get older, pg. 64.

Sherry, the world's most misunderstood and underappreciated wine, page 437.

Think of this book as a lively course from an expert teacher, grounded deeply in the fundamentals and enriched with passionate asides, tips, anecdotes, definitions, glossaries, illustrations, maps, wine labels - everything, in fact, but the actual wine itself. By America's renowned wine teacher and authority.

Author Biography Karen MacNeil is director of the wine program at the Culinary Institute of America in Napa Valley, California. She consults worldwide on the subject of wine, and her articles have appeared in The New York Times, Food & Wine, Sunset, Saveur, Fine Cooking, Wine Spectator, and other national newspapers and magazines. Ms. MacNeil lives in northern California.