1.THE DIRTY GUIDE TO WINE; following flavors from ground to glass (The Countryman Press, 2017, 256 pages, ISBN 978-1-58157-384-8 $24.95 USD paperbound) is by Alice Feiring, a major force in the wine writing world with award-winning articles, books, and a blog (alicefeiring.com, since 2004). She's assisted by Pascaline Lepeltier Master Sommelier (MS) who strongly believes in terroir. For years there have been nothing really new in wine books except biographies, regional analyses, and tasting notes. What keeps it all fresh is that there are new vintages every six months (above and below the Equator) that require updating. However, this book is both new and DIFFERENT. It is all about TERRAIN: the wines discussed here are organized by bedrock, and include vines grown over igneus bedrock (basalt, granite), sedimentary (limestone, shale, mudstone, clay, gravel) and metamorphic (slate, schist, gneiss). There are select tasting notes that illustrate differences, and cheat sheets for the three major forms of bedrock. Bravo, well done!
Audience and level of use: jaded wine lovers looking for new snob points.
Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: Alsace stands alone with a variety of bedrocks.
The downside to this book: not all the world is covered, but all of the largest producing regions are.
The upside to this book: something unique, although there have been a few books about "volcanic" wines.
Quality/Price Rating: 92+.
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