The Curious World of Wine: Facts, Legends, and Lore About the Drink We Love So Much

By Richard Vine

Book Overview

The Curious World of Wine is a fascinating miscellany about the colorful characters, celebrated places, and quirky events surrounding wine-making. Recounting wine tales that are by turns amusing, surprising, and occasionally a bit naughty, wine expert Richard Vine reveals little-known facts such as: - The oldest vineyard still producing grapes is thought to be in Maribor, Slovenia, where vines up to four hundred years old remain fruitful. - "Plonk," a term used to insult any modestly priced wine, got its name from the French words for white wine--vin blanc, pronounced "vawn blawnk," which was corrupted to "plawnk" or "plonk." - Thomas Jefferson was so eager to plant native French vines at his Monticello mansion that he nearly went bankrupt fruitlessly hiring experts to defeat a condition that caused European vines to mysteriously die in North American soil. - Touching wineglasses as a toast was originally a deft move to exchange a splash of wine into each other's cup to ensure that neither party was being poisoned. The Curious World of Wine will keep any wine fan entertained and enlightened--from the most erudite connoisseur to Two Buck Chuck devotees.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0399537635
• ISBN13: 9780399537639
• Release Date: November 2012
• Publisher: TarcherPerigee
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.73 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.3" x 0.8" x 5.4"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 12 and higher