A nicely structured, lightly acidic addition to the handy
Snob’s Dictionary
series, decoding the baffling world of winespeak from A to Z.
Wine Snob. The very phrase seems redundant, doesn't it? When faced with this snobbiest of snobberies, the civilian wine enthusiast needs the help of savvy translators like David Kamp and David Lynch. Their
Wine Snob’s Dictionary
delivers witty explication of both old-school oeno-obsessions (What's claret? Who's Michael Broadbent?) and such new-wave terms as "malolactic fermentation" and "fruit bomb." Among the other things Kamp and Lynch demystify:
Finish: the Snob code-term for "aftertaste." (Robert Parker includes the stopwatch-measured length of a wine's finish in his ratings.)
Meritage: an American wine classification that rhymes with "heritage," and should NEVER be pronounced "meri-TAHJ."
Terroir: that elusive quality of vineyard soil that has sommeliers talking of "gunflint," "leather," and "candied fruits"
Featuring ripe, luscious, full-bodied illustrations by
Snob's Dictionary
stalwart Ross MacDonald,
The Wine Snob’s Dictionary
is as heady and sparkling as a vintage Taittinger, only much less expensive... and much more giggle-inducing. Cheers!