Beverages Books

Purchased as a gift for an overseas friend who has visited Messina Hof, I found it very difficult to hand it over! It is very well written, with a good combination of history and recipes, and I'll probably buy another copy, for myself! Together with a bottle of Messina Hof wine, this makes a wonderful gift.

The collaborative effort of Merrill and Paul Bonarrigo who draw upon their more than thirty years of experience and expertise as vintners in Texas, "Vineyard Cuisine: Meals & memories From Mossina Hof" is an historical journal about wine, food, love and laughter. Messing Hof is the first winery in Texas to produce wine based foods. The Bonarrigos also opened a restaurant featuring 'vineyard cuisine' and served gourmet breakfasts in the Villa. The very best of their wine-based dishes are showcased in "Vineyard Cuisine", along with step-by-step instructions that any kitchen cook can follow. Enhanced with color photography throughout, "Vineyard Cuisine" features recipes that range from Almnd Anise Biscotti; Treberwurst (wine-Soaked Bratwurst); and Spicy Calamari; to Champagne Vinaigrette Salad; Port Zabaglione; and Vintage House Focaccia Bread. "Vineyard Cuisine" is an especially recommended addition to the cookbook collections of discriminating connoisseurs of gourmet quality dining.

This book is a delight and will be a fresh face amongst the books in any well thought-out collection. It is educational as well as entertaining, with beautiful pictures accompanying recipes for cocktails and delicious dishes that include vodka. It's a must for the wonderful upcoming holiday season. What a great christmas gift for that special someone, or even for yourself, as we break thru to the new millennium. Pair it with one of the two silver martini shakers offered thru Renovation Hardware or some of those great martini glasses from Crate and Barrel. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

This book is a delight and will be a fresh face amongst the books in any well thought-out collection. It is educational as well as entertaining, with beautiful pictures accompanying recipes for cocktails and delicious dishes that include vodka. It's a must for the wonderful upcoming holiday season. What a great christmas gift for that special someone, or even for yourself, as we break thru to the new millennium. Pair it with one of the two silver martini shakers offered thru Renovation Hardware or some of those great martini glasses from Crate and Barrel. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Fabulous Book. I have taken an interest in vodka just recently since learning about the diffrences between the everyday vodkas,the premium and ultra premium vodkas.It has become sort of a hobby. I have enjoyed learning about the vast differences in quality of the ingredients and the history behind the vodka brands. I was happy to find this book and enjoyed the wealth of information and the beautiful photography. I too, as the other reviewer enjoyed the directory but was also disappointed that my favorite French vodka, Peureux Perfect1864 was not listed as well. I give a pass on that because I believe it has only been in the USA since 2005.I would have appreciated how the author would have handled Peureux Perfect1864 and their claims of being "the worlds highest quality vodka". It would have been an interesting review from such a connoisseur.The book is an awesome gift for any that would like to begin their vodka connoisseur education.

I really enjoyed this book. I have been interested in vodka for a number of years and have had a tough time finding good books on the subject. First and foremost, this is a coffee table book. Something for your friends to pick up and glance at while they are waiting for you. But it is also one of the best books on the subject, currently in print. It goes into a brief history of vodka production in many of the big vodka countries. The best section in the book however is the vodka directory which contains pictures, ratings and tasting notes for 65 different brands. It even delves into the different varieties offered by the many brands. Pictures of each bottle are also included. (This alone makes the book worth it). The only qualm that I have is that it does not include any information about Grey Goose Vodka, which is regarded as the best vodka currently on the market. This is probably due to the fact that the vodka is relativly new. But, the book is well worth the money. Some other books to look are at Vodka by: Bill Milne, Robert Von Goeben, and Maurice Kanbar. And the Buying Guide to Spirits publised by the Bervarage Tasting Institute of Chicago.

I picked up this book at the public library and have tried some of the recipes. The zucchini enchiladas are delicious and the zucchini hot cakes are tasty, too. I plan to purchase this book.

The various coffee cakes and muffins we've tried have become family favorites, particularly recipes such as "Root Beer Muffins", "Maple Muffins with Maple Butter Glaze" (so rich!!!), "Peaches and Cream Muffins" and "Snickerdoodle Coffeecake". And the various custard dishes are wonderful, too.

I have tried many recipes from this book and all of them have been delicious. I take my finished products to my Navajo weaving classes and all the weavers rave about the products! I like the fact that the book has addresses and phone numbers for me to contact the Bed and Breakfasts. Some day, I will have to make a reservation and maybe I can cook with the owner. I also have the book for the Southwest and it too is fantastic! Recipes are simple and delicious.

Wake Up the Smell the Coffee has filled my kitchen with such good food for breakfast and just any meal, that I'm constantly jotting down the recipes on demand. While held over for my flight in Seatle, I picked up this gem in the book/gift store at the airport and spent four hours pouring over every page. The food was just as good as it read on the page and I wanted to visit every B&B. The recipes are the favorites of B&Bs all over the Northwest and each recipe has a brief discription of the Inn and a sketch. The index gives addresses and telephone numbers for quick reservations. I have given this book as a gift many times, and for myself, ordered the successive "Wake Up" books for other parts of our country. May it NEVER go out of print.

an excellent resource on the topic, extensive information on every aspect of the development of wholesale markets, not an operational guide, but does give you a feel for the type of operation.

The Handbook of Wholesale Markets Worldwide best book of Design & Planning In Wholesale Markets...

It is one of best books on wines that I have already read. It is clearly and objective and its information are coherent. It also contains good tips.

It is unfortunate that this book is currently out of print, although it is still worth the effort to locate a used copy. I really know very little about wines, except for a limited knowledge about Gallo. Because I was interested in learning about Italian wines, I sought a copy of this book. This book covers all of the basics, from how to take care of wine to the different types, and which ones go with what foods. I was surprised to learn that no wine goes well with artichokes, and if it were not for the book, I might have blamed the wine for the metallic taste that arises from that combination. Another impression feature of the book is its section on the world wine regions. Readers can learn much about the different types of wines grown around the world. Therefore, this is certainly a book worth reading before traveling and fully experiencing a culture.

If you read this book you get a very good vieuw of the Australian wines and winery's mr.Halliday did,as in his other books,an amazing job. for all the wine lovers out there a must buy

My recent month-plus tour of wineries in Australia and New Zealand was greatly based upon the excellent research,reviews and contacts using this fine reference.As a budding wine writer, collector, and head of a local Enological Society in the Pacific Northwest,Halliday's Atlas has been the virtual bible enabling the design of both the tour and subsequent writing.As my primary interest was a focus upon pinot noirs, my tour began in Australia where I visited Halliday's own Coldstream Hills Vineyard.His work provide a roadmap enabling me to contact other prominent pinot noir producers in the Yarra Valley and Mornington Peninsula-Main ridge, Stonier, Yering Station, Paringa Estates and others.While there, I also made contacts and was invited to a new release winetasting of New Zealand wines held in Melbourne. Quite amazingly, the first person I met was the great James, himself. It was fun and a privilege to share wine tasting experience and comments.
From there, the tour extended to the whole of New Zealand. Again the Atlas laid the groundwork for my visits, enabling me to meet most of New Zealand's greatest owners and winemakers, including John Buck at Te Mata,Kevin Judd at the famous Cloudy Bay,Neil McClallum at Dry River, Grant Taylor at Gibbston Valley and many others.Naturally, covering nine separate wine regions entailed tasting many other prime quality varietals in such warmer climes as Waiheke Island and Hawkes Bay with their magnificent cabernets and Bordeaux blends,plus gorgeous chardonneys,etc. In all cases, the Atlas gave regional and subregional data and exacting descriptions of "terrior" necessary to a serious study.Halliday is, in my book, a more comprehensive writer and reviewer of "new world" wines than even Jancis Robinson or Robert Parker. He also adds the direct insights of his winemaking in Australia and his pioneering of pinot noir developments "down under". His reputation as a critic is simply impeccable and his easily read writing style, while detailed, is at once comprehensive and comprehensible.It is a must read and essential reference for serious oenophiles and fellow wine tourists.

a dated book , but still filled with pertinent information for the wine enthusiast regarding ; California with a few sections on the Pacific NW vineyards.

There are some wine discussions that began a decade ago that have not had a definitive conclusion. The question of the role of terroir is an example. We are cripplingly ignorant of what and how the ground on which wine is grown influences the taste of wine. Halliday's discussion, if not his conclusion, is completely contemporary and the quality of his prose and his thought is still unmatched.
I see that there are copies of this book available for 21 cents. It would be silly not to buy one.

Lynn Hoffman, author of The New Short Course in Wine

I knew very little about wine when I bought this CD. The information contained is nothing short of amazing. A whole mysterious and intimidating world was opened up to me as I went through each section of this disc. I never knew you could could make champagne with red grapes. I did not know the difference between a Bordeaux and a Cabernet Sauvignon. Now I feel comfortable buying wine in a restaurant, or picking out a bottle for that special dinner. The video demonstrations even showed how to reliably open wine and champagne bottles. There was a section on good wine values too. If you like wine and would like to learn more quickly and painlessly, I highly recommend this CD-ROM.

I love wine. Lots of different wines with very different names are my favorite and after a long disagreement with a dear friend over one name I went on a search for a tool for pronunciation. You can get an idea from a book but to hear the names spoken is the best way to learn how to say it with confidence. So I went in search of software to help me do this. The first several CDs I purchased, done by well known experts left me cold, and so became the property of my older brother Cliff (Who now has an extensive collection of wine CDs courtesy of me) And so I tried again. The day I recieved The Wine CD turned into night as I stayed glued to my computer. I finished it that night and have referred back to it several times since. I love the level of knowledge of the experts and the experts themselves. Being able to go to each region is great. That dear friend I mentioned had to buy me the wine we had been discussing when I could play for him several times the way it was pronounced. This one is a keeper and Cliff will either get his own for a present or I may just tell him to buy his own.