Yes, you can buy world-class wine on a budget. With Parker's Wine Bargains, America's most infl uential wine critic offers a guide to the world's best wines priced at $25 or less. Robert M. Parker, Jr., earned his international reputation and unprecedented influence as a dedicated consumer advocate -- if a wine isn't worth the money, he says so, regardless of the wine's pedigree. In Parker's Wine Bargains, for the first time he and his Wine Advocate team offer budget-minded wine buyers a handy guide to low-priced wines for both everyday drinking and special occasions. Organized by country, the book lists more than 1,500 quality wine producers, as well as abbreviated tasting notes for more than 3,000 of the best value wines. Chapters include an overview of each country's wine-producing regions, highlight up-and-coming or underappreciated regions, and detail when wines can be consumed. Also featuring a vintage guide and lists such as "the best of the best," Parker's Wine Bargains is an accessible guide from the expert the New York Times deems "the critic who matters most."

Parker's acclaimed guide, fully revised with ratings on the latest vintages from around the world, is one of the most authoritative wine guides available and now comes with expanded sections on the popular wines of California and Italy.

Featuring a fresh layout, revised maps, and more detail than ever before, the seventh edition of Parker's Wine Buyer's Guide offers collectors and amateurs alike the ultimate resource to the world's best wines. Understanding that buyers on every level appreciate a good deal, Parker separates overvalued bottles from undervalued, with wine prices instantly shifting according to his evaluations. Indifferent to the wine's pedigree, Parker's eminent 100-point rating system allows for independent, consumer-oriented, inside information. The latest edition of Parker's Wine Buyer's Guide includes expanded information on Spain, Portugal, Germany, Australia, Argentina, and Chile, as well as new sections on Israel and Central Europe. As in his previous editions, Parker provides the reassurance of a simple number rating, predictions for future buying potential, and practical overviews of regions and grapes. Altogether, an indispensable resource from the man the Los Angeles Times calls “the most powerful critic of any kind.”

Revised, updated, and greatly expanded, this guide provides complete, easy-to-understand facts, opinions, and ratings for more than 7,500 wines from all major wine regions. With his famous 50-100 point system and entertaining, informative tasting notes, Parker once again makes the world of wine accessible to everyone. Color maps and charts throughout. National ads/media.

THE ACCLAIMED AUTHOR OF JUDGMENT OF PARIS EXPLORES THE THRIVING BUSINESS OF BARGAIN WINES AND OFFERS HIS RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE BEST VALUES. Is inexpensive wine any good? Award-winning author George M. Taber shows that it is, examining the paths to success of the world’s best-selling bargain brands. Taber helps readers learn to trust their taste and make informed decisions when confronting wine lists, and reveals how innovators are turning the old vin ordinaire into something extraordinaire. A Toast to Bargain Wines is an accessible mix of history, business, and reference, and includes a two-part guide to the world’s best buys: George’s ten favorite bargains of every varietal (plus two splurges in each category), then ten value brands from twelve regions around the world. Casual wine drinkers and connoisseurs alike will benefit from this insider’s guide to finding and enjoying good wine—at a great price.

There is a saying among winemakers that "great wine begins with dirt." Beginning from this intriguing premise, The Winemaker's Dance embarks on an eye-opening exploration of "terroir" in one of the greatest places on earth to grow wine—California's Napa Valley. Jonathan Swinchatt and David G. Howell weave a tale that begins millions of years ago with the clash of continental plates that created the Napa Valley and go on to show how this small region, with its myriad microclimates, complex geologic history, and dedicated winemakers, came to produce world-class wines. A fascinating look at the art and science of winemaking and the only comprehensive book that covers Napa's geology, history, and environment, The Winemaker's Dance will help wine enthusiasts better understand wine talk and wine writing and, most importantly, wine itself. The Winemaker's Dance is animated by the voices of Napa's winemakers talking about their craft. The book also contains two driving tours through the valley that highlight the landscapes and wineries discussed. An array of unique illustrations—including shaded relief maps overlaid with color aerial photographs—provide a new and illuminating look at the region: its bedrock, sediments, soils, sun, wind, and rain. The expansive narrative considers how these elements influence wines from particular vineyards and how specific winemaking practices can bring out or mask aspects of terroir. It concludes with a discussion of the state of the winemaking industry today. Unraveling the complex relationship between the people, the earth, and the vines of Napa Valley, The Winemaker's Dance brings the elusive concept of terroir to a broad audience, adding a vibrant dimension to the experience of the valley's wines. It also provides insights that enhance our understanding of wines and winegrowing regions the world over.

Writing with wit and verve, Mike Veseth (a.k.a. the Wine Economist) tells the compelling story of the war between the market trends that are redrawing the world wine map and the terroirists who resist them. Wine and the wine business are at a critical crossroad today, transformed by three powerful forces. Veseth begins with the first force, globalization, which is shifting the center of the wine world as global wine markets provide enthusiasts with a rich but overwhelming array of choices. Two Buck Chuck, the second force, symbolizes the rise of branded products like the famous Charles Shaw wines sold in Trader Joe's stores. Branded corporate wines simplify the worldwide wine market and give buyers the confidence they need to make choices, but they also threaten to dumb down wine, sacrificing terroir to achieve marketable McWine reliability. Will globalization and Two Buck Chuck destroy the essence of wine? Perhaps, but not without a fight, Veseth argues. He counts on "the revenge of the terroirists" to save wine's soul. But it won't be easy as wine expands to exotic new markets such as China and the very idea of terroir is attacked by both critics and global climate change. Veseth has "grape expectations" that globalization, Two Buck Chuck, and the revenge of the terroirists will uncork a favorable future for wine in an engaging tour-de-force that will appeal to all lovers of wine, whether it be boxed, bagged, or bottled.

Dody Parker is the outlandish, boisterous, and daring story of a life on the brink of collapse. Dody Parker- a public servant, devoted mother, award-winning teacher, faithful companion, loyal daughter-is a woman trying to make sense of a life turned upside down by a painful, chronic disease caused by her sick school building. Hurled into a world of unemployment and public housing, Dody struggles with those ordained to her by poverty, sickness, despair, neighborliness, surrender, and all by love. Dody learns that she can not only survive, but she can flourish as she faces the challenges of her newfound life.