A must-read for wine enthusiasts, especially those on a budget.
A well-researched exploration of an often-overlooked sector of the international wine business: bargain wines.
We are living in “the golden age of wine,” writes Taber (In Search of Bacchus, 2009, etc.), an assertion most easily proven by the abundance of high-quality, inexpensive wines on store shelves today. New producers in the industry such as Australia, Chile and the United States have increased global competition; as a result, wines at the low end of the price spectrum (specifically $10 or less) have improved greatly over the past few decades. Taber begins by dispelling the myth that expensive wine is automatically better by relating a few stories of red-faced wine tasters and some of their epic blunders throughout history. He goes on to target the “gold medals” and other awards given to wines at various tasting festivals. The verdict: So-called “wine experts” are inconsistent at best, and what one deems gold-medal quality, another could deem unpalatable. The author encourages amateur wine enthusiasts to trust their own taste, go with what they like and not be too concerned with experts and awards. Taber shines brightest in the book’s second half, an exhaustive guide to bargain wines broken down by style and region.
A must-read for wine enthusiasts, especially those on a budget.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-4391-9518-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Scribner
Review Posted Online: Oct. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2011
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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