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Review
[There are] many facts and anecdotes in 'Is This Bottle Corked?, described by the authors as 'charming diversions'. Their description undersells the book; there is also plenty here that will deepen and enrich even a developed understanding of wine.' --Times Literary Supplement, November, 2008
Review
This book is actually fun and tells you things you didn't know about everything wine-connected ... Read it and then instead of being a wine dullard you can be the drinker with the facts.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I bought this book for a friend for Christmas whose a wine buff and he was over the moon! I'd never heard of the book before but it went down very well and the men were fighting over it!
18 of 40 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The writers of this 'cabinet of bibelots' have given much thought to their collection of 'diversions' and heroically done their research, drained it to the dregs, I'd hazard a guess. Who says writers have it easy? Not me. I'd happily have offered to do some of their research for them, take the strain, smooth their path, lighten their load...sigh.
The reader can only settle down and sip this vintage blend. It seems intended, as surely its subject is, to be sipped at leisure, with pleasure and in generous measure. Like a tempting banquet it demands a discussion of the best accompaniment to its delights ... an amphora of famous Falernian? a cup of Hippocras? some dazzling comet? maybe a more accessible Californian cabernet? or simply a jug of vin du pays, a loaf of bread ... it's all there.
Being an enthusiast (of the hopeful type rather than than the writers' brand of erudite), I already knew some of the sippets herein enclosed, but it dips and dives into many more: some arcane (bee wine?), some mythical (Antipaxos wine?), some quirky (swizzle sticks anyone?), and all entertaining.
This book should slip easily into a Christmas stocking, as its contents slip easily and pleasurably into the mind, and its subject slips even more easily over the taste receptors and down the throat. Yum!
The reader can only settle down and sip this vintage blend. It seems intended, as surely its subject is, to be sipped at leisure, with pleasure and in generous measure. Like a tempting banquet it demands a discussion of the best accompaniment to its delights ... an amphora of famous Falernian? a cup of Hippocras? some dazzling comet? maybe a more accessible Californian cabernet? or simply a jug of vin du pays, a loaf of bread ... it's all there.
Being an enthusiast (of the hopeful type rather than than the writers' brand of erudite), I already knew some of the sippets herein enclosed, but it dips and dives into many more: some arcane (bee wine?), some mythical (Antipaxos wine?), some quirky (swizzle sticks anyone?), and all entertaining.
This book should slip easily into a Christmas stocking, as its contents slip easily and pleasurably into the mind, and its subject slips even more easily over the taste receptors and down the throat. Yum!
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
5 reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Is This Bottle Corked?
31 Oct 2009
Format:Hardcover
This is just the kind of off beat book about wine that you might find very interesting. No chapters about what to drink, how to drink, how to match food with wine, and other tiresome wine preaching. Rather, this book offers 138 somewhat obtuse but fascinating questions about wine. The authors, Kathleen Burk and Michael Bywater, are not wine gurus or critics, but rather wine lovers who have an interest in the historical perspective of wine. The result is a book with an academic tone, offering short and straightforward answers that fascinate rather than bore the reader.
Examples of questions posed include, "What did Jane Austen recommend for headache?" (Answer: Constantia wine), "Did Benjamin Franklin really produce a `sprightly claret?" (Answer: He gave instructions on how to make wine in the Colonies in the 1743 edition of Poor Richard's Almanac), "What was Napoleon's favorite wine?" (Answer: Clos Vougeot and Chambertain), and "Was Pliny the first Robert Parker?" (Answer: No 100- point scale, but he was unrivaled as a wine scholar of his time). There are a number of other questions answered which will enrich anyone with an interest in wine such as, "Who first invented wine," What is terroir, and should we care," and "Should wine be decanted." Because the short chapters are devoted to one question, the reader can pick up the book for short periods of time and thumb to a question of interest without reading the book from front to back. Wine writers will find the book a special resource of historical facts.
The authors come from different backgrounds. Kathleen Burk is a Californian whose family were winegrowers and while at the University of California at Berkeley, she spent considerable time in the Napa Valley tasting wine. She is an accomplished author, has written for the World of Fine Wine, currently the world's most sophisticated and highly lauded wine publication, but also is well-versed in history and a Professor of Modern and Contemporary History at University College London. Michael Bywater has written numerous articles for periodicals in the UK, is a regular broadcaster for the BBC, and teaches tragedy at the University of Cambridge. The pair's diverse backgrounds and interests provide the right mix for a lively read about "The Secret Life of Wine."
Examples of questions posed include, "What did Jane Austen recommend for headache?" (Answer: Constantia wine), "Did Benjamin Franklin really produce a `sprightly claret?" (Answer: He gave instructions on how to make wine in the Colonies in the 1743 edition of Poor Richard's Almanac), "What was Napoleon's favorite wine?" (Answer: Clos Vougeot and Chambertain), and "Was Pliny the first Robert Parker?" (Answer: No 100- point scale, but he was unrivaled as a wine scholar of his time). There are a number of other questions answered which will enrich anyone with an interest in wine such as, "Who first invented wine," What is terroir, and should we care," and "Should wine be decanted." Because the short chapters are devoted to one question, the reader can pick up the book for short periods of time and thumb to a question of interest without reading the book from front to back. Wine writers will find the book a special resource of historical facts.
The authors come from different backgrounds. Kathleen Burk is a Californian whose family were winegrowers and while at the University of California at Berkeley, she spent considerable time in the Napa Valley tasting wine. She is an accomplished author, has written for the World of Fine Wine, currently the world's most sophisticated and highly lauded wine publication, but also is well-versed in history and a Professor of Modern and Contemporary History at University College London. Michael Bywater has written numerous articles for periodicals in the UK, is a regular broadcaster for the BBC, and teaches tragedy at the University of Cambridge. The pair's diverse backgrounds and interests provide the right mix for a lively read about "The Secret Life of Wine."
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Is This Bottle Corked
12 Feb 2010
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
I love reading about history and particularly history that is not readily available in most books. I also like reading about wine. What we have in this book is a couple of very knowledgeable people giving me some good history lessons and making it fun using wine as the backdrop. It must have taken lots of research to have the information made available about everything from Greek mythology, the bible, European history, American History, etc. In addition just some good ole facts about wine making and understanding technical issues related to growing grapes and making wine.
Pleasant, light-reading fluff for the wine lover
4 July 2010
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book is a series of vignettes related to wine. Serious wine lovers will already know the points that relate to normal consumption. Other topics, like what Napoleon drank, will be of passing interest. (What wine to have with curry is a nearly unsolvable conundrum.) Overall, however, if you like wine and need some light reading material, this book is a pleasant diversion.
By the way, the cork industry has gotten its act together, and it is rare to find a recently-bottled wine that is corked. (Even if it is still a conversation starter when you write a book like this.)
By the way, the cork industry has gotten its act together, and it is rare to find a recently-bottled wine that is corked. (Even if it is still a conversation starter when you write a book like this.)
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