Live With Jay

So you think you know a lot about wine? Or have a friend who can quote chapter and vinous? You know, “vinous,” the word some Europeans use to criticize California wines that they think are too fruity. Well, unless that friend is Karen MacNeil, they probably don’t know as much about wine as you think they do.

You see, Karen MacNeil is the author of The Wine Bible. It took her ten years to write. It’s rich with passionate asides, tips, anecdotes, definitions, glossaries, illustrations, maps, and wine labels from around the world.

Karen says that she believes some things choose you rather than you choosing them. In her case, wine and food chose her. She sees both at parts of nature that you can take in, not something that just sits on a shelf and that’s what she loves about them.

Karen recommends that one of the best ways to learn about wines is to taste a lot of them. You don’t become an instantaneous expert. It’s like anything else she says, if you want to really know wine you need to practice a lot and have a good coach. Through The Wine Bible, Karen becomes your coach.

The Wine Bible answers a lot of simple questions like, “What makes red wine red?” And, “Is it wrong to have red wine with fish if that’s what I’m in the mood for?”

But it also answers a lot of more sophisticated questions. She says that while wine knowledge used to be more alchemy than science, today science plays a much bigger role. Today we know scientifically why a particular wine tastes the way it does.

As you go through the book you learn about what makes wine great, where it all begins, how it’s made, why certain grapes are special, and how to taste wine like a professional.

There are interesting facts on nearly every page of this book. Did you know that some Argentine wine regions are at elevations up to 4,900 feet above sea level? Or that wineglasses, mouth-blown goblets, beakers and bottles were being made in the Mediterranean and Near East in the first century before Christ? Or that a barrel that’s wood has narrow rings is denser allowing the flavor to be extracted more gradually than one with wide rings?

To get wine smart, read her book. To find out what wines she recommends, listen to her interview with Jay.

Article By Paul J. Welsh

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