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If you enjoyed the widely praised "Great Wine Made Simple: Straight Talk from a Master Sommelier," by Andrea Immer, the New York-based wine expert who was the sommelier at Windows on the World, you'll probably be excited to learn that Ms. Immer has a new book coming out next month and another in November.
Following up on the premise of "Great Wine Made Simple," which sought to take the mystery and the snobbery out of wine with the slogan, "The only thing that should become between people and wine is the cork," Immer's new book is titled "Wine Buying Guide for Everyone" and will reportedly feature both general and specific advice about buying wine from the consumer's perspective.
Subtitled "The ultimate buying guide to America’s most popular and accessible wines," the book is described as "The first guide to buying wine that grades the top-selling premium wines in stores and restaurants: popular supermarket brands, trade-up brands, and super-premium labels" rated on the basis of taste and value for the money.
According to information recently posted on Amazon.com, the book will include "Best-of lists" of wines that consistently perform well and Immer's specific wine picks in price ranges from "inexpensive crowd pleasers" to "blue-chip choices for business entertaining." It will also list "The Top Fifty Wines You’re Not Drinking," good-value and easily available but less well-known wines; a quick and easy label-reading lesson, and a concept so offbeat that she has trademarked the title, "Kitchen Countertop (and Fridge) Survivor" ratings that estimate the "freshness window" of various wines after opening.
Heretofore, I've been skeptical about wine-buying guides in book form, including those published by the critic Robert M. Parker Jr. and Wine Spectator magazine, because the realities of book publishing build in months of delay between preparation and publication, making it difficult for the reader to find wines that were reviewed months earlier and that since have sold out.
But if the book follows through on its description, it will feature good-quality, affordable wines that will stand at least a reasonable chance of being available at your retailer after you have the book in hand ... and it will offer good advice on general principles for selecting wines of quality and value.
So much about this approach runs parallel to what I try to do in The Wine Advisor and WineLoversPage.com that I feel certain I'll like this book. As soon as I can get my hands on a review copy, I'll follow up with more specifics.
Meanwhile, if you share my confidence and want to be one of the first wine enthusiasts on your block to have your own copy of "Wine Buying Guide for Everyone," you can pre-order the book at a discount from Amazon.com through WineLoversPage.com (and return us a small commission) by using this link:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0767911849/robingarrswineloA/
224 pages, paperback. List price $12.95, Amazon.com price $10.36, you save $2.59 (20%).
More Immer news: Amazon.com also indicates that she's coming out with another new book, "Great Wine and Food Made Simple," in November. Details and price aren't available, but if you're such an Immer fan that you can't wait to order, here's the link:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0767909070/robingarrswineloA/.
Immer's first book, "Great Wine Made Simple: Straight Talk from a Master Sommelier," may be purchased here:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/076790477X/robingarrswineloA/,
288 pages, hardcover. List price: $25, Amazon.com price $17.50, you save $7.50 (30%).
Finally, Immer's own Website, GreatWineMadeSimple.com, exists primarily to promote her books, but to its credit, it holds substantial content and is well worth a visit in its own right:
http://www.greatwinemadesimple.com/
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All the wine-tasting reports posted here are consumer-oriented. In order to maintain objectivity and avoid conflicts of interest, I purchase all the wines I rate at my own expense in retail stores and accept no samples, gifts or other gratuities from the wine industry.
Tuesday, April 16, 2002
Copyright 2002 by Robin Garr. All rights reserved.
