Favorite Wine Magazines/Books?

[Natasha]

Hi,
I realize that not all of you enjoy wine, but I have a question for those fellow enthusiasts out there ...
What are your favorite wine publications?
Could be books or magazines (esp. magazines), including magazines published about specific wine regions. I love reading about (and, of course, trying) a wide variety of wines, and enjoy the entertaining menus and recipes often offered in wine magazines, as well as the wine columns in cooking magazines like Bon Appetit. I don t (yet?!) have a favorite wine magazine, though.
Thanks in advance (and I apologize for not posting a strictly food question!) http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif


[This message has been edited by Natasha (edited 08-30-2000).]

[Holly S]

I would like some input on this too! I was telling my husband I wanted to take a wine tasting class, and any info you could provide would be wonderful

[sneezles]

I get a magazine called "Wine Enthusiast" while I enjoy reading it I usually always buy the same brands.

[Vanessa]

I have enjoyed Food & Wine for years.Several magazines (Gourmet, Bon Appetit) have monthly reviews on wine tastings. Usually community colleges have wine courses and just to familiarize yourself with wine visit a good wine store where they can guide you with wine/food pairing and have wine tasting. There is no better guide to what you might enjoy that actually tasting a wine.

[lorilei]

There is a book out there, published every year, which I used to recommend when I worked in a bookstore.

The title was Best Wine Buys for $10 or Less and it was updated every year.

It won't make a connoisseur out of you immediately, but it will give you a lot of great choices for less money. You can be cultured and frugal at the same time http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

[Veronica]

I subscribe to Wine & Spirits. My favorite part of the magazine is the "Best Buys" section--recommended wines for $10 or less. All in all, the magazine is pretty good.

[Gail]

Considering that we're serious wine drinkers here, for whatever reason I've never been able to get into any of the wine magazines I've seen. Probably, I get more out of a single column from CL or Sunset or Bon Appétit or even the L.A. Times, than I do when I purchase an entire magazine. Wine Spectator does have a nice web site with suggestions, recipes, etc. One feature I particularly like is food and wine matching, where you enter the type of food you're serving, and it provides suggestions.

[Peggy]

I must share my latest cookbook with all of you wine enthusiasts! It's called "The Wine Lover's Cookbook - Great Recipes for the Perfect Glass of Wine" by Sid Goldstein (ISBN # 0-8118-2071-8). I picked it up on a recent retail therapy trip to the Bay Area.

The cookbook addresses the complex issue of pairing food and wine in a very straight forward, organized manner. There are several general chapters discussing food and wine pairing, followed by 14 additional chapters covering different varietals. For each varietal they cover aromas & flavors, complementary food base ingredients, bridging ingredients, styles and tips for successful matching. This information is followed by recipes created to balance or contrast each wine. Some examples recipes: Chardonnay - Chilled Corn and Sun-Dried Tomato Chowder with Goat Cheese-Chive Croutons; Spinach Fettuccine with Sea Bass and Lemongrass-Coconut Cream Sauce, Braised Pork with Apples, Mushrooms, and Calvados. Zinfandel - Clove-Infused Pork-Black Bean Stew with Tomatillo-Roasted Pepper Salsa, Paella with Peppered Chicken, Spicy Sausage, and Escargot. Yummy!!!

I've always been fascinated with food and wine pairing so I can't wait to explored this cookbook in depth. My CL Supper Group is planning a "Winemaker's Dinner" for the holiday season from this cookbook. We are going to select different courses and serve them with the "perfect glass of wine"!

Long-winded, I know, but I'm very enthusiastic about this!!!

Peggy

[Natasha]

Thanks all! I hadn't seen the Wine Spectator site before so I visited it yesterday and Gail, you're right - this is a handy resource.
Peggy - that book sounds awesome! I just peeked at it on www.amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com) and will have to check it out in person! Once you've had a chance to explore the book a bit more, please feel free, absolutely free, to divulge some secrets with us ... http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif

[Natasha]

Hey Peggy? Me again...
Have you tried the Spinach Fettuccine with Sea Bass and Lemongrass-Coconut Cream Sauce? It sounds delicious ... great idea about the holiday CL dinner, by the way!

[This message has been edited by Natasha (edited 08-31-2000).]

[MarciaTJ]

Being a lover of wine, I find some of the mags to be a bit on the pompous side at times, however some of the better ones are Wine Spectator and Food and Wine, and especially the friday wine article in the Wall Street Journal (they just got a website up, and you can access the articles for free). And my absolutely favorite book, which is the mother of all wine books is the Oxford Companion to Wine - it is a huge dictionary of sorts on the history of wine, and any possible wire related topic possible.

happy reading
Marcia

[Peggy]

Natasha,

I haven't had the chance to try any of the recipes yet. We do have an excellent bottle of Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon on our wine rack that we have been wanting to enjoy. I just may get inspired this weekend and pick one of the Cabernet recipes to try!

I would be very happy to share any "secrets" with you. Is there a particular wine you are trying to pair with food? Just give me the varietal and I will be happy to pass along the author's wisdom!!

Peggy