bookshelf

SNIFFING THE CORK

Name: SNIFFING THE CORK
Author: Judy Beardsall
ISBN: 0-7434-3800-0

AND OTHER WINE MYTHS DEMYSTIFIED

by Judy Beardsall with C.B. deSwaan ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 16, 2002

This is advice? Why drink mediocre (or worse) wine at all?

bookshelf

A rather unhelpful introduction to wine from Beardsall, a wine professional, that may well leave neophytes with more confusions and doubts than when they started.

Not that this expert doesn't have intelligent things to say about sommeliers and wine-shop clerks, storing wine and types of glasses, and (most important of all) making sure you have fun drinking wine. To this latter end, she affects a breezy, carefree style: “Wines go with everything and there really are no hard and fast rules to worry about.” But then Beardsall will go on to tell you to be careful about salads and asparagus and never drink a dessert wine except for dessert. In fact, she has plenty of rules and opinions, many of which are purely subjective. That’s fine—wine is all about subjectivity—but it underlines the need for experience and further daunts the newcomer. Beardsall’s reading of a wine list is a case in point: “I would be unlikely to order a $72 bottle of Merlot, especially since I don't know the producer.” How does this help the aspiring oenophile? She notes the importance of terroir and producer, but never clearly defines their relative merits. “Whatever the wine from whatever grape or region, what's really important is the human element in the wine-making process,” Beardsall comments at one point; then a few pages later states, “wine-making is not about human intervention, but as I've emphasized throughout, it's about soil and climate.” She chides one reviewer for saying a wine reminded him of red brick, “even though of course, he most likely never tasted brick.” Then she refers to wine as “velvety,” leaving you to wonder if she has been chewing on the curtains. Other peculiar bits of advice include: “If the wine is great, drink it room temperature to coolish. If it's mediocre, or worse, the colder it should be.”

This is advice? Why drink mediocre (or worse) wine at all?

Pub Date: July 16, 2002

ISBN: 0-7434-3800-0

Page Count: 224

Publisher: Atria

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2002

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

bookshelf

NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

bookshelf

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

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

bookshelf

TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

bookshelf

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.