The Complete Wine Course is the perfect step-by-step introduction for a new wine-lover. For too long wine has been wrapped in a mystique and language that are designed to deter the uninitiated from enjoying one of life's great pleasures. The barriers of snobbery are now being torn down and everybody can seek out their favorite tastes and flavors for themselves. This book is about bringing wine back to basics. Served chilled with a bouquet of humor, it will be a journey of exploration through every aspect of wine: from grape to grass, from Algeria to Zimbabwe, from the grandest of Bordeaux chateaux to the humblest and from the most traditional estates in Chianti to the most hi-tech of million-dollar wineries in California's Napa Valley. No grape will be left untrodden, no stone left unturned. This lavishly illustrated volume provides an essential commentary on wine and wine drinking and gives the reader a complete education in the mysteries and subtle art of viniculture. From pairing up wines with food - as important as matching a shirt and tie or dress and accessories - to understanding the distinctions between Old and New World wines, all is revealed. After reading The Complete Wine Course you'll never be embarrassed when the wine waiter comes round again.