"The author of Great Wine Made Simple" now adds great eating to her repertoire, showing how to enhance the flavor of even the most casual meals with winning wine selections. Most wine experts' advice on wine and food pairings consists of rigid rules that apply largely to haute cuisine and luxury wines. But, in her trademark accessible style, Andrea Immer now takes the mystery out of choosing wine for food-and vice versa. "Great Tastes Made Simple unlocks the secrets of basic food tastes-sweet, earthy, savory, buttery, tart, and spicy-and their particular wine affinities. Giving even ordinary meals extraordinary flavor, Immer shows readers how to bring the flavor alchemy of wine to everyday fare from burgers (with Zinfandel) to macaroni and cheese (with Rioja Crianza). She calls Pinot Grigio her "tuna helper" and likes barbecued brisket with Valpolicella. There's also plenty of more sophisticated eating, including smoked salmon and Riesling; asparagus hollandaise and Champagne; wild mushroom risotto and California Pinot Noir, to name a few upscale matches. In fact, there isn't a food or category of food-including a panoply of cheeses, ethnic foods, and desserts-for which Immer doesn't provide a match and the reasons why they work so well. Chart of mouthwatering pairings and an easy-to-use index make finding wonderful wine and food combinations a snap. Zeroing in on "wine-loving food"-those flavors, textures, and cooking techniques that truly dazzle when paired with wine-Immer demonstrates how to get the maximum enjoyment out of every food and wine encounter. A selection of twenty recipes-Low Country Shrimp and Grits (think Chardonnay), Beet Risotto (Pinot Noir), Short RibRagu (brawny reds), and Warm Chocolate Torte (Madeira)-provides delicious examples of wine-loving dishes and cooking techniques that will become part of every wine-loving cook's repertoire. Invaluable in restaurant settings and at home, this innovative guide can make every meal a cause for celebration.

The updated edition of the classic introduction to wine for everyone, by Master Sommelier Andea Immer Robinson. Great Wine Made Simple established Andrea Immer Robinson as America’s favorite wine writer. Avoiding the traditional and confusingly vague wine language of “bouquet” and “nose,” it instead discussed wine in commonsense terms. Now, thoroughly revised, this edition lives up to its title by making selecting and enjoying wine truly straightforward. You will never again have to fear pricey bottles that don’t deliver, snobby wine waiters, foreign terminology, or encyclopedic restaurant wine lists. You’ll be able to buy or order wine with confidence—and get just the wine you want—by learning the “Big Six” basic styles (which comprise 80 percent of today’s top-selling wines), how they taste, how to read any wine label, and how to pick a wine off a restaurant menu. Ten new flavor maps show what to expect from climates around the world. A refreshing blend of in-depth knowledge and accessibility, Great Wine Made Simple is a welcome resource for those who are intrigued by wine but don’t know where to start and makes it easy to master the ins and outs of choosing a wine that you and your guests will love—on any budget.

Provides a collection of travel articles on the culture, cuisine, and everyday life of the Greek city, along with bibliographies and practical tips on transportation, culinary treasures, accommodations, and sights.

Food and Wine Pairing: A Sensory Experience provides a series of discussion and exercises ranging from identifying basic wine characteristics, including visual, aroma, taste (acid, sweetness, oak, tannin, body, etc.), palate mapping (acid, sweet, sour, bitter, and tannin), basic food characteristics and anchors of each (sweet, sour, bitter, saltiness, fattiness, body, etc). It presents how these characteristics contrast and complement each other. By helping culinary professionals develop the skills necessary to identifying the key elements in food or wine that will directly impact its matching based on contrast or similarities, they will then be able to predict excellent food and wine pairings.

Immer, the young, hip Master Sommelier and corporate director of beverage programs for Starwood Hotels and Resorts, cuts through all the winespeak to help readers learn more about wine.

Completely updated with information on more than 800 of the country's top-selling wines (100 more than were included in the 2006 edition), Andrea Robinson's buying guide is dedicated to the best-quality, most popular, and most readily available wines found in stores and restaurants. In addition to giving the lowdown on taste and value, this compact resource is packed with unique features such as: · Candid "from the trenches" comments from consumers and wine pros alike · Results of "kitchen survivor test," revealing how each wine fares as a leftover · Robinson's Best Bets or solving every buying dilemma, from hip wines to impress a date to blue-chip choices for a client · Listing of the years' top-performing wines at every price level, from steal to splurge

Master the art of entertaining and cement lasting business relationships in the process You're at a fancy downtown restaurant for dinner with a million-dollar business deal on the table. The waiter hands you the wine list. Now what? So much for that shiny M.B.A. and your powerful business connections. What matters right now, at this moment, is your wine IQ—and your ability to entertain this client in a way he'll never forget. In Power Entertaining Eddie Osterland, Master Sommelier, and America's foremost wine and food coach outlines dozens of power entertaining tips that can make anyone a more effective host or hostess—be it at a corporate business event or private dinners with clients in restaurants. When it comes to hosting big business meetings or important sales events, you will discover how to entertain business clients and business associates with ease, knowledge, and confidence, using good wine and food as the ingredients to build strong and lasting business relationships. Teaches how to transform boring business meetings and sales functions into memorable social events that people will want to attend again and again Enables you to build long-term business relationships based on the time-honored principles of courtesy, generosity and old world hospitality Learn how to convince the restaurant's Maitre d' to give them the best table in the house—even on a busy Friday or Saturday night Success is always in the details, so master the finer points of entertaining before your next big business event.