Heard It Through The Grapevine

Wine is one of the most civilized things in the world and one of the most natural things of the world that has been brought to the greatest perfection, and it offers a greater range for enjoyment and appreciation than, possibly, any other purely sensory thing.
-Ernest Hemingway

I recently received a copy of Heard it Through the Grapevine by Matt Skinner, from his publicist Aimee Bianca, at YC Media. I promised her that I would take a look at it, but made no promises to review or feature it on the blog. After reading the book, I knew I would do a review and give it a showcase on the blog.

Heard it Through the Grapevine by Matt Skinner


Now, I am by no means a wine aficionado, in fact, I rarely drink wine, because unfortunately since having surgery, I have difficulty absorbing it. I did however grow up in an Italian household, where wine was a staple. My Uncle Ralph would even make his own wines, and my father was known to cut a peach or two and immerse it in some red wine, and have that for his dessert on a beautiful summer night.

My children however, did not inherit my genes, and are wine lovers. My daughter Lauren as part of her course study at Cornell’s School of Hotel Management was required to take their wine tasting course and from what I hear, it is one of the most difficult courses at the University. My son Steven belongs to a wine collector’s club, which in and of itself is interesting as he doesn’t yet have a job, but that’s another story!

That being said, my knowledge of wine is that it comes in red and white, and the champagne has bubbles in it. After reading Matt’s book Heard it Through the Grapevine, I am now on my way to becoming a sommelier. What a phenomenal book for someone who wants to learn about the basics of wine. This book covers everything in basic and easy to understand terminology.

Matt Skinner is a young Australian who has been involved in the wine industry since he was 18 years old. He moved from Australia to England where he got a job with Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen restaurant, and where he now oversees all of the wine operations for the entire international Fifteen group. Matt drinks, writes, and lives wine, and his book is the final testament to his success.

As Bunny Finkelstein the co-owner of Judd’s Hill Winery says, "Making wine is like having children; you love them all, but boy, are they different."

Matt will be the one to take you by the hand and teach you just how different they are. From telling you where to shop for wine and the differences in each venue (independent liquor store, chain store, vineyard, internet) he teaches you the fine nuances of each. There is nothing he doesn’t cover in the book, storing wine, decanting wine, wine pairing, wines and different diseases (asthmatics, diabetics, celiacs,) he has it covered. From the proper glasses, to the different storage methods after opening, to wine auctions, labels, costs, what constitutes a good year, tasting, wine faults, from wines by ingredients, by country, by season, I don’t think he missed a thing.

I remember when Lauren was taking the course and she was telling me about the bouquet of the wine, letting it breath, how the flavors change, etc. I really didn’t have a clue what she was talking about. One of my favorite sections of the book is the four-page spread on how to describe what you see and taste. It features a full visual of many of the flavors that enhance the different wines, from fruits, to spices, to flowers, he gives you the visual, and asks that in return the next time you taste a wine, you commit them to memory, and use them to describe the wine you are savoring!

This book makes a great addition to your collection if you are new to the wine world, a great gift if you are an old hand, as I’m sure you will learn something from it. It would make a great bridal shower gift, bachelor party gift, birthday gift, a great addition to a cookbook collection, wonderful mother’s day or father’s day gift, actually it is the perfect gift for anyone who has even the slightest interest in wine. If I could find it fascinating and incredibly interesting and I only have a vague interest in wine, imagine how someone who really has an interest would find it.

I actually think that liquor stores would do very well to sell this in their stores; it would certainly encourage customers to come back and try new and wonderful wines. I think I am actually going to go out and buy some copies for my four children. If they are going to become winos, they may as well do it in style!

Recommendation: The book will be available in the US on April 15. BUY THIS BOOK, you won’t be sorry. In fact, to make it easy, just look to your right, we have included the link to the book on the sidebar, just click and order, doesn’t get any simpler than that! If you don’t buy the book, you will miss out on The Best Food and Wine Partners! BUY THIS BOOK...

Contents: Don’t be fooled by the simple topic names, each chapter is crammed with information!

Introduction
Shopping
Drinking
Eating
Sleeping
Well-Being
Glossary
Index

Since this is a food related site, and there are no actual recipes in the book I will impart a little of Matt’s advice on the pairing of wine with fish and shellfish.

Here are his suggestions:

Cold Manzanilla Sherry with whitebait or squid, Good oloroso sherry with cooked shrimp dishes; Light, clean, fruity whites – minus the oak-with white fish; Full, rich whites-including oak- with mackerel, scallops, freshwater crayfish, crabs, or lobsters; Pink wines with whole roasted fish, bouillabaisse, or sardines; Pinot Noir with salmon, trout, tuna, or sushi

The book is filled with beautiful photos done by Chris Terry, so beautiful that you can almost taste the food, and smell the wine. You can easily see that this book is a labor of love!

Book Title: Heard it Through the Grapevine
Author: Matt Skinner
Category: Specialty Books-Wine
ISBN: 978-1-84533-483-3
Publisher: Mitchell Beazley (an imprint of Octopus Books USA)
Publishers Address: 237 Park Avenue, New York, New York 10017
Website: http://www.hachettelivre.co.uk
Published: 2008
Edition: First
Description: Hard Cover
Illustrations: No
Photographs: Beautiful Color Photography
Price: $24.99
Reviewed by: Elise Feiner – April 13, 2009

Remember this “In vino veritas (In wine is truth.) - Plato

Heard it Through the Grapevine can be ordered by either clicking on the sidebar, or scrolling down to the bottom of the blog to our Foodfanataholics Cookbook Nook, go to the sidebar on the right and click on Cookbook of the Month.

In Vino Veritas - and now the Truth will Be Told

A few years ago, I became acquainted with Natalie MacLean. We began to e-mail each other, and I listed her on my website Cooking with Love, and she listed me on hers Nat Decants.

Now, while I love to cook, I don't know a thing about wine, and this is where Natalie shines. I am including the review of her book Red, White, and Drunk all over that I had done on the old website. If you want to learn about wine, and have a good time doing it, this book is for you. You'll find the review at the bottom of the post.

Both Natalie and I have grown through the years. I wrote a cookbook, added a blog, starting some cooking classes, she expanded her website, has a fabulous newsletter which you can sign up for on her website, added some recipes, and now, her latest gem is a widget for pairing food and wine. The picture at the top of the blog is what the widget looks like on the sidebar. I have placed the widget on the blog so that whenever you need to know what wine will go with what food you can just scroll down near the Wine Loving Foodfanataholic listing and check it out.

Natalie sent me an e-mail today and here is what she wrote about her latest accomplishment:

New York, March 10, 2009 - Which wine tastes best with pork chops in a maple glaze? Does rosemary-marinated grilled halibut invite red or white wine? Are there also great food pairings for beer, spirits, cocktails, coffee and tea?

To answer these questions and thousands more, the web site NatalieMacLean.com now offers a new Drinks Matcher widget, a portable version of the site's existing food-and-wine pairing tool. You can download the free Drinks Matcher widget in just three clicks to your computer desktop, web site, blog or social media page like Facebook, MySpace or iGoogle from www.nataliemaclean.com/matcher.

"The variety of food-and-drink combinations has exploded in the last five years," says Natalie MacLean, publisher of North America's largest wine e-newsletter. "Chicken isn't just chicken anymore: Now we eat it stuffed with pancetta and fresh herbs, rubbed with curry spices or sautéed in an orange balsamic sauce. We're looking for more interesting flavors, both on the plate and in the glass-and we want them to work together."

During the eight years that Natalie spent testing the combinations for her Drinks Matcher, she found two extremes when it comes to food and wine pairing: "Some people say that it's complete nonsense, while others insist that there's only one perfect match for every wine. Neither approach helps wine lovers."

"People want some guidance, even though the pairings are subjective. It all comes down to balancing flavors and textures. I'm a thoroughly hedonistic researcher. Of the thousands of combinations I tried, some were delicious, others were a disaster. I share the ones that worked in the Drinks Matcher."

You can search the matcher for drinks to pair with meat, pasta, seafood, vegetarian dishes, pizza, take-out, sauces, herbs, cheese or dessert; or you can find dishes to go with wine, cocktails, liqueurs, beer, spirits, cider, coffee, tea-and yes, even water. The Drinks Matcher is meant to be a springboard to help you discover the matches you prefer. The perfect pairing, of course, is between you and the wine you like.

Natalie is in a position to know...she has been the winner of several awards, some of which are listed here.




The moral of this post is, whenever you need to have a wine question answered, you now have a place to go. If the widget on this blog doesn't help you, Natalie's website is just a click away.
If you are a wine love, want to learn about wine, want to cook with wine, this is the place to go.

Good luck Natalie with your on going, and on growing website...we look forward to all the new things you will bring to us in the future!

Here is a review of Nat's Book, red, white, and drunk all over as it appeared on Cooking with Love:

This month's selection is a little different than our ordinary choices in that, it isn't a cookbook. This fablous book is written by well known sommelier Natalie MacLean. Ms. MacLean has won numerous awards for her writing including the James Beard Journalism Award, the IACP Bert Greene Awards, The Association of Food Journalists Award among many others.

You may be asking why a girl who drinks nothing stronger than unsweetened iced tea selected this book for our cookbook of the month. I figured it was time to diversify, and that maybe I would learn something along the way.

Natalie's journey into the world of wine began when she met her husband Andrew , I'm a lot further behind. As she states in the beginning of the book, "Language and wine are two of the most pleasing things we consume:they animate us and become part of us." I figure I'm okay on the language part, but I need a lot of help with the wine!

I wasn't really a fan of Sideways even though I love Paul Giametti, and I wouldn't know a Merlot from a Pinot Noir. They might think about doing a sequel to Sideways using Natalie's book. It would be a lot more interesting, and she's a heck of a lot better looking!

I thought that perhaps being a cookbook author, I should know a little more about wine, as I probably would have been very happy using Holland House Cooking Wines if I hadn't heard over and over, if you won't drink it, don't cook with it. In addition to the fact that my daughter Lauren, a senior at the Cornell University School of Hotel Management is taking the wine tasting course this semester and regaling us with the tales of what she has tasted and learned...I am embarrassed by my ignorance.

Here are a list of the chapters:

• Introduction:The Making of a Wine Lover
• The Good Earth
• Harvesting Dreams
• The Merry Widows of Mousse
• Purple Prose with a Bite
• A Tale of Two Wine Stores
• A Glass Act
• Partners at the Table
• Undercover Sommelier
• Big City Bacchus
• Acknowledgments

From the Burgundy regions of France to the hills of the Sonoma Valley in California, to the Champagne Region of Renoir, through Natalie's brilliant descriptions, you can feel the wine, as though you were the one tasting it..."another exuberant premier cru chardonnay with aroma of nutmeg, creme brulee, and toast. It rolls to the back of my mouth like an incoming tide of pleasure, growing and growing until I'm flooded with its scent." Interestingly, the book is an much about the wine as it is the soil in which it grows, or the glass from which it's sipped...who would have thought that dirt or glass could have so much character or impact???

I think my favorite chapter is The Merry Widows of Mousse, a chapter filled with not only the intricacies of Champagne production, but with a history lesson included as a bonus. We women know what we have known all along that it is the women who are the ones who, when the going gets tough, the tough get going!

The chapter regaling a dinner party in Natalie and Andrew's home leaves your mouth watering. My only tiny criticism of the book is that there isn't one of Andrew's marvelous recipes included. I'd love to be a guest at their dinner table.

Chapter after chapter draws you in and quenches your thirst for more. From the soil where the grapes are grown, to the fine nuances of the wine industry, this book will entertain you, educate you, and liberate you pursue the road to becoming a wine-lover. I couldn't put the book down.

The holidays are coming and I can't think of a better gift for all of those on your gift list whether they be a wine novice, an aficionado, or a connoisseur, they will enjoy this book. In fact, I am going to buy another copy for Lauren because I won't part with mine...in fact, I am going to suggest that she purchase one for her professor at the end of her wine tasting course at Cornell. The book is available from Amazon, Barnes and Noble and directly from Natalie's web site which you should definitely check out: Natalie Maclean and sign up for her newsletter, Nat Decants. Natalie, you'd be very proud of me, I actually learned something, a pinot noir is a type of grape and I promise, I will never use Holland House cooking wines again!

Sample Recipe from the book:

Since the book does not include any recipes and we are a cookbook site, I have taken the liberty of including one of my son Jeffrey's recipes, a recipe for steamed clams cooked in wine.

Steamed Clams

Ingredients:

• 4-6 pounds steamer or littleneck clams

• 3 cups dry white wine (I use Inglenook® Chablis)

• 1 onion, diced

• 8-10 cloves garlic; crushed

• 12 black peppercorns

• 1 (13 ¾ or 14.5 ounce) can College Inn ® Chicken Broth

• Good handful of fresh parsley, chopped

• 4-5 fresh basil leaves, finely chopped

• 3 cups water

  
  

  Place clams in cold water to which you have added 1-3 tablespoons of cornmeal. Let the clams sit about ½ hour. Rinse well in cold water. Discard any clams with broken shells or those that are open before cooking or closed after cooking. Wrap the clams by dozen - dozen and a half in cheesecloth before putting them in the pot (cut pieces of cheesecloth in large rectangles, place the clams in the middle and tie with kitchen twine). This makes it easier to serve later on. Place the wine, onions, garlic, peppercorns, parsley, basil, and water in a large steamer or pot. Add the clams. Bring to a boil, keep covered. Stir or mix by shaking the pot for about 6 to 8 minutes or until clams are opened. Serve with melted butter. Serves 8.

Title: red, white, and drunk all over

Author: Natalie MacLean

Category: Wine and Wine Making

ISBN: 1-58234-648-8

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA

Publishers address: 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010

Website or e-mail of publisher: Bloomsbury USA

Published: 2006

Edition: First

Description: Hardcover

Illustrated: none

Photographs: none

Price:$23.95

Reviewed by: Elise Feiner - October 31, 2006