A year of wine : perfect pairings, great buys, and what to sip for each season

Cover Title Page Copyright Dedication Contents Introduction * A Call for Context and a Way to "Drink Different" THE BASICS * Don't Judge a Wine by the Grape-Judge a Wine by Its Style * Flavor Profiles: Whites * Flavor Profiles: Reds * Pairing Wine with Food * Broken Glass: The (Un) Importance of Great Stemware * Finding a Wine Shop to Savor * Making the Most of Wine Travel * Twelve Months in the Vineyard and Winery PART ONE WINTER JANUARY * A Resolution: Taking Better Wine Notes * Variety Is the Spice of Life: Do a Wine Century * Lush or Rustic: A Malbec Taste Test * Port: A Stealth Weapon for Providing Winter Warmth* XOXO: From Cognac, with Love * Travel to: Australia * Sommelier Survey: Rajat Parr, Wine Director The Michael Mina Group, San Francisco, California FEBRUARY * Super Bowl: When the Chips Are Down, Don't Raise a Beer! * Champagne: The Big and the Small of It * Rosé Champagne: It's Not Just for Heart-shaped Jacuzzis Anymore * Pairing Wine with Chocolate, If You Must * President's Day: The Sorry History of Wine in the White House * Open That Bottle Night * Travel to: Sonoma * Sommelier Survey: Juliette Pope, Beverage Director, Gramercy Tavern, New York, New YorkPART TWO SPRING MARCH * Spring for Chenin Blanc from the Loire * Protect Your Stash This Spring: Storing Wine in Apartments and in Mansions * Spring Cleaning: Managing Your Wine Cellar Inventory * Holy Wine and Wine for Holy Holidays: Passover and Easter * Travel to: Mendoza, Argentina * Sommelier Survey: Christie Dufault, Wine Director, Quince Restaurant, San Francisco, California APRIL * April Fool's! Smell the Cork and Look at the Legs (Ahem!) * Growing Green for Earth Day * Going Green: The Carbon Footprint of Wine* Walk the Plank: Does Oak Float Your Boat? * Feeling Grü Vee: Get to Know Grüner Veltliner * Travel to: Rioja, Spain * Sommelier Survey: Erik Leidholm, Wine Director, Seastar Restaurant and Raw Bar, Seattle, Washington MAY * Putting Down the Crystal Glasses and Picking Up the Crystal Ball: Futures * Tyra and Tannins: Why Moscato d'Asti Is the Ultimate Wine for Newbies, Pools, and Tyra Banks * My Mom, Brunch, and the Oak Bomb: Mother's Day Wines and Wine Spas * Congratulations, New Hire, Here's the Wine List! (Gulp) * Travel to: Douro, Portugal* Sommelier Survey: Tysan Pierce, Sommelier, The Herbfarm, Woodinville, Washington PART THREE SUMMER JUNE * Weddings: When the Champagne Toast Shouldn't Be Champagne * Wine with Baseball: The Juice, Dogs, and Kraut * Bling Dad, Frugal Dad: Wine and Winelike Gifts for Father's Day * Loire Reds to the Rescue: How to Not OD on Whites and Rosés During the First Few Weeks of Summer * Travel to: The Loire * Sommelier Survey: Shelley Lindgren, Wine Director, A16, San Francisco, California JULY Cover Title Page Copyright Dedication Contents Introduction * A Call for Context and a Way to "Drink Different" THE BASICS * Don't Judge a Wine by the Grape-Judge a Wine by Its Style * Flavor Profiles: Whites * Flavor Profiles: Reds * Pairing Wine with Food * Broken Glass: The (Un) Importance of Great Stemware * Finding a Wine Shop to Savor * Making the Most of Wine Travel * Twelve Months in the Vineyard and Winery PART ONE WINTER JANUARY * A Resolution: Taking Better Wine Notes * Variety Is the Spice of Life: Do a Wine Century * Lush or Rustic: A Malbec Taste Test * Port: A Stealth Weapon for Providing Winter Warmth* XOXO: From Cognac, with Love * Travel to: Australia * Sommelier Survey: Rajat Parr, Wine Director The Michael Mina Group, San Francisco, California FEBRUARY * Super Bowl: When the Chips Are Down, Don't Raise a Beer! * Champagne: The Big and the Small of It * Rosé Champagne: It's Not Just for Heart-shaped Jacuzzis Anymore * Pairing Wine with Chocolate, If You Must * President's Day: The Sorry History of Wine in the White House * Open That Bottle Night * Travel to: Sonoma * Sommelier Survey: Juliette Pope, Beverage Director, Gramercy Tavern, New York, New YorkPART TWO SPRING MARCH * Spring for Chenin Blanc from the Loire * Protect Your Stash This Spring: Storing Wine in Apartments and in Mansions * Spring Cleaning: Managing Your Wine Cellar Inventory * Holy Wine and Wine for Holy Holidays: Passover and Easter * Travel to: Mendoza, Argentina * Sommelier Survey: Christie Dufault, Wine Director, Quince Restaurant, San Francisco, California APRIL * April Fool's! Smell the Cork and Look at the Legs (Ahem!) * Growing Green for Earth Day * Going Green: The Carbon Footprint of Wine* Walk the Plank: Does Oak Float Your Boat? * Feeling Grü Vee: Get to Know Grüner Veltliner * Travel to: Rioja, Spain * Sommelier Survey: Erik Leidholm, Wine Director, Seastar Restaurant and Raw Bar, Seattle, Washington MAY * Putting Down the Crystal Glasses and Picking Up the Crystal Ball: Futures * Tyra and Tannins: Why Moscato d'Asti Is the Ultimate Wine for Newbies, Pools, and Tyra Banks * My Mom, Brunch, and the Oak Bomb: Mother's Day Wines and Wine Spas * Congratulations, New Hire, Here's the Wine List! (Gulp) * Travel to: Douro, Portugal* Sommelier Survey: Tysan Pierce, Sommelier, The Herbfarm, Woodinville, Washington PART THREE SUMMER JUNE * Weddings: When the Champagne Toast Shouldn't Be Champagne * Wine with Baseball: The Juice, Dogs, and Kraut * Bling Dad, Frugal Dad: Wine and Winelike Gifts for Father's Day * Loire Reds to the Rescue: How to Not OD on Whites and Rosés During the First Few Weeks of Summer * Travel to: The Loire * Sommelier Survey: Shelley Lindgren, Wine Director, A16, San Francisco, California JULY A lively and informative guide to a year of wine enjoyment and appreciation from acclaimed wine expert and blogger Tyler Colman, a.k.a. "Dr. Vino." In A Year of Wine , award-winning educator Tyler "Dr. Vino" Colman, whose wine blog was hailed by Food & Wine magazine as "one of the seven best," views winter, spring, summer, and fall through the glass of his favorite impact-resistant stemware, pairing each month with its perfect ports, Pinots, and bubblies — and offering good value recommendations for them all. Throughout, Colman reminds readers to try to pair their pours with context, which is wildly underrated when it comes to enjoying your favorite bottle. And while people tend naturally to drink lighter, more refreshing wines during the warm months and heavier, more serious wines during the winter months, Colman takes the seasonal approach a step further by offering innovative recommendations and enlightening facts that will allow readers to impress their friends for twelve months straight. Is there a perfect wine to serve with chips and salsa on Super Bowl Sunday? Which bottles will help you drown away your tax- day blues without blowing your new budget? Colman answers these questions and much more as he pairs wines with each season, occasion, and moment. Recommending thoughtful and affordable wines for special celebrations and everyday enjoyment, offering tips on beginning a wine collection or spring cleaning the one you have, exploring how to drink with the smallest possible carbon footprint, and explaining how to maximize your wine experience when you dine out, Colman makes wine easy to understand and, most important, to savor. Colman also shares the secret gems of his favorite wine tourism destinations — where to find the best wine shops in Paris, which Portuguese vintners still crush grapes with their bare feet, and how you can take a ten-tasting-room tour with one stop in a tiny Oregon town — and turns to some of the country's top sommeliers for their take on wine appreciation as well. Perfect for both seasoned wine enthusiasts and oenophobes, A Year of Wine is an innovative approach that will encourage readers to drink outside the bottle. From award-winning wine expert Tyler "Dr. Vino" Colman comes this innovative guide to pairing the perfect wine with every season and occasion.