There's a secret language spoken in the often self–serious world of wine tasting: Words like awkward, clone, note, legs, bouquet, and thief suddenly don't mean what they normally mean. For amateur imbibers, sommelier jargon and that weird front–of–teeth slurping and spitting thing can seem like a joke we're not in on. But the snobbery that often surrounds the wine illuminati is completely absent in The Essential Scratch–and–Sniff Guide to Becoming a Wine Expert, a new book written by Richard Betts, one of fewer than 200 master sommeliers in the world. As the wine–world equivalent of a Knight or a Jedi, Betts believes that "wine is a grocery, not a luxury." It's a 22–page board book, beautifully illustrated by San Francisco–based Wendy MacNaughton and designed by Crystal English Sacca. Why should the wonders of scratching–and–sniffing be reserved only for children? Scents of bacon, flowers, butter, grass, and even cat pee are translated onto paper to help readers identify the aromatic components of their beverages. "Once you realize there are cat pee scents in white wine, you'll never be able to drink a lot of white wine again," MacNaughton tells Co.Design. "All you'll smell is cat pee." Worry not: there's no actual cat pee in wine, or so they claim. It's just a compound called p–mentha–8–thiol–3–1 that happens to smell exactly like feline urine––and Sauvingnon blanc afficionados consider it a positive trait. MacNaughton credited a huge print run right off the bat to the... Continue reading at 'Fast Company'
[ Fast Company | 2013-10-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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While all the big box stores carry books and all offer discounted bestsellers, Target competes most directly for those consumers who might otherwise make their purchases at bookstores. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-01-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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