Fear of Wine

In this friendly introductory guide, food and wine writer Leslie Brenner tells how to: Pour and taste wine Develop a taste memory Order from a wine list Select a wine at the store Match food with wine In addition, helpful sidebars illuminate such subjects as: How--and why--to swirl without sloshing Disarming a snotty waiter Ten great wines to bring to a dinner party Going beyond California Chardonnay Starting your own cellar for under $100 Along the way, Lettie Teague's funny and informative cartoons enhance the text and make great devices for remembering the most important facts. Before long, your old standby, Chateau Screwtop, will be a distant memory. Accessible and concise,Fear of Winewill appeal to anyone who wants to know a little bit about a subject that can bring great pleasure. At last, a guide that is as fun to read as wine is to drink!

Leslie Brenner, the self-taught cook and award-winning cookbook author, is a restaurant critic and dining editor at The Dallas Morning News. Formerly the editor of the Los Angeles Times Food section and contributing editor at Travel + Leisure magazine, it is no surprise that Brenner has a passion for excellent cooking and dining. Over the years, she has been awarded two James Beard Foundation Journalism Awards, countless first prizes from the Association of Food Journalists, and has received two first place prizes in "Comment and Criticism" from the Texas Associated Press Managing Editors.

Lettie Teague is a staff writer and wine columnist for The Wall Street Journal. The author of Wine in Words: Notes for Better Drinking, she is the recipient of three James Beard Foundation Awards, and has been honored with an induction into the Wine Media Guild’s Wine Writers’ Hall of Fame.