The Republic of Wine

The Republic of Wine
Author: Mo Yan
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 371
Release: 2012-01-23
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1611459745

In this hypnotic epic novel, Mo Yan, the most critically acclaimed Chinese writer of this generation, takes us on a journey to a conjured province of contemporary China known as the Republic of Wine—a corrupt and hallucinatory world filled with superstitions, gargantuan appetites, and surrealistic events. When rumors reach the authorities that strange and excessive gourmandise is being practiced in the city of Liquorland (so named for the staggering amount of alcohol produced and consumed there), veteran special investigator Ding Gou'er is dispatched from the capital to discover the truth. His mission begins at the Mount Lou Coal Mine, where he encounters the prime suspect—Deputy Head Diamond Jin, legendary for his capacity to hold his liquor. During the ensuing drinking duel at a banquet served in Ding's honor, the investigator loses all sense of reality, and can no longer tell whether the roast suckling served is of the animal or human variety. When he finally wakes up from his stupor, he has still found no answers to his rapidly mounting questions. Worse yet, he soon finds that his trusty gun is missing. Interspersed throughout the narrative—and Ding's faltering investigation—are letters sent to Mo Yan by one Li Yidou, a doctoral candidate in Liquor Studies and an aspiring writer. Each letter contains a story that Li would like the renowned author's help in getting published. However, Li's tales, each more fantastic and malevolent than the last, soon begin alarmingly to resemble the story of Ding's continuing travails in Liquorland. Peopled by extraordinary characters—a dwarf, a scaly demon, a troupe of plump, delectable boys raised in captivity, a cookery teacher who primes her students with monstrous recipes—Mo Yan's revolutionary tour de force reaffirms his reputation as a writer of world standing. Wild, bawdy, politically explosive, and subversive, The Republic of Wine is both mesmerizing and exhilarating, proving that no repressive regime can stifle true creative imagination.

The Republic of Wine

The Republic of Wine
Author: Yan Mo
Publisher: Arcade Publishing
Total Pages: 380
Release: 2000
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 9781559705318

A novel of epic proportions, gargantuan appetites, & surrealistic fantasies, The Republic of Wine is as daring as it is controversial.

Amber Revolution

Amber Revolution
Author: Simon J Woolf
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 2021-10-05
Genre:
ISBN: 9781623718572

A must-have volume for all wine lovers and those who love orange wine. Written by renowned orange wine expert and award winning writer Simon J. Woolf, Amber Revolution is the world's first book to tell the full, forgotten story of this ancient wine (white wine made like a red wine) and its modern struggle to gain acceptance. It is a tale of lost identity, the fight for survival, and pioneering winemakers--from the Caucasus to the Adriatic. White grapes are left in contact with their skins for days, weeks or months during fermentation, creating stunning complexity, unusual aromas and intense flavors. The extended skin contact gives these wines bold amber, russet, or orange tints. The technique is ancient, but the hype is new and fast growing. This book includes profiles of 180 of the best producers from 20 countries worldwide and is crammed full of all the information you need to find the best orange wines worldwide together with tips for how to buy, enjoy, food-match and age them. Beautifully illustrated with over 150 specially commissioned photos, Amber Revolution is an essential reference work for any wine lover, sommelier, retailer or producer who loves orange wine. Written by renowned orange wine expert and award winning writer Simon J. Woolf, Amber Revolution is the world's first book to tell the full, forgotten story of this ancient wine (white wine made like a red wine) and its modern struggle to gain acceptance. It is a tale of lost identity, the fight for survival, and pioneering winemakers--from the Caucasus to the Adriatic. White grapes are left in contact with their skins for days, weeks or months during fermentation, creating stunning complexity, unusual aromas and intense flavors. The extended skin contact gives these wines bold amber, russet, or orange tints. The technique is ancient, but the hype is new and fast growing. This book includes profiles of 180 of the best producers from 20 countries worldwide and is crammed full of all the information you need to find the best orange wines worldwide together with tips for how to buy, enjoy, food-match and age them. Beautifully illustrated with over 150 specially commissioned photos, Amber Revolution is an essential reference work for any wine lover, sommelier, retailer or producer who loves orange wine.

Wine for Normal People

Wine for Normal People
Author: Elizabeth Schneider
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Total Pages: 351
Release: 2019-11-05
Genre: Cooking
ISBN: 1452171416

This is a fun but respectful (and very comprehensive) guide to everything you ever wanted to know about wine from the creator and host of the popular podcast Wine for Normal People, described by Imbibe magazine as "a wine podcast for the people." More than 60,000 listeners tune in every month to learn a not-snobby wine vocabulary, how and where to buy wine, how to read a wine label, how to smell, swirl, and taste wine, and so much more! Rich with charts, maps, and lists—and the author's deep knowledge and unpretentious delivery—this vividly illustrated, down-to-earth handbook is a must-have resource for millennials starting to buy, boomers who suddenly have the time and money to hone their appreciation, and anyone seeking a relatable introduction to the world of wine.

Around the World in Eighty Wines

Around the World in Eighty Wines
Author: Mike Veseth
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 225
Release: 2017-11-01
Genre: Cooking
ISBN: 1442257377

Inspired by Jules Verne’s classic adventure tale, celebrated editor-in-chief of The Wine Economist Mike Veseth takes his readers Around the World in Eighty Wines. The journey starts in London, Phileas Fogg’s home base, and follows Fogg’s itinerary to France and Italy before veering off in search of compelling wine stories in Syria, Georgia, and Lebanon. Every glass of wine tells a story, and so each of the eighty wines must tell an important tale. We head back across Northern Africa to Algeria, once the world’s leading wine exporter, before hopping across the sea to Spain and Portugal. We follow Portuguese trade routes to Madeira and then South Africa with a short detour to taste Kenya’s most famous Pinot Noir. Kenya? Pinot Noir? Really! The route loops around, visiting Bali, Thailand, and India before heading north to China to visit Shangri-La. Shangri-La? Does that even exist? It does, and there is wine there. Then it is off to Australia, with a detour in Tasmania, which is so cool that it is hot. The stars of the Southern Cross (and the title of a familiar song) guide us to New Zealand, Chile, and Argentina. We ride a wine train in California and rendezvous with Planet Riesling in Seattle before getting into fast cars for a race across North America, collecting more wine as we go. Pause for lunch in Virginia to honor Thomas Jefferson, then it’s time to jet back to London to tally our wines and see what we have learned. Why these particular places? What are the eighty wines and what do they reveal? And what is the surprise plot twist that guarantees a happy ending for every wine lover? Come with us on a journey of discovery that will inspire, inform, and entertain anyone who loves travel, adventure, or wine.

Shifu, You'll Do Anything for a Laugh

Shifu, You'll Do Anything for a Laugh
Author: Mo Yan
Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.
Total Pages: 166
Release: 2012-01-05
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1611459532

Mo Yan, China’s most critically acclaimed author, has changed the face of his country’s contemporary literature with such daring and masterly novels as Red Sorghum, The Garlic Ballads, and The Republic of Wine. In this collection of eight astonishing stories—the title story of which has been adapted to film by the award-winning director of Red Sorghum Zhang Yimou—Mo Yan shows why he is also China’s leading writer of short fiction. His passion for writing shaped by his own experience of almost unimaginable poverty as a child, Mo Yan uses his talent to expose the harsh abuses of an oppressive society. In these stories he writes of those who suffer, physically and spiritually, under its yoke: the newly unemployed factory worker who hits upon an ingenious financial opportunity; two former lovers revisiting their passion fleetingly before returning to their spouses; young couples willing to pay for a place to share their love in private; the abandoned baby brought home by a soldier to his unsympathetic wife; the impoverished child who must subsist on a diet of iron and steel; the young bride willing to go to any length to escape an odious, arranged marriage. Never didactic, Mo’s fiction ranges from tragedy to wicked satire, rage to whimsy, magical fable to harsh realism, from impassioned pleas on behalf of struggling workers to paeans to romantic love.

The Essential Wine Book

The Essential Wine Book
Author: Zachary Sussman
Publisher: Ten Speed Press
Total Pages: 354
Release: 2020-10-20
Genre: Cooking
ISBN: 1984856774

A field guide to the new world of wine, featuring an overview of today’s most exciting regions and easy-to-use advice on properly tasting wine, discovering under-the-radar gems, and finding the perfect bottle for any occasion. Highlighting wines from old world regions such as France, Italy, Spain, and Germany to new world wines from the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, and more, The Essential Wine Book tells you what to drink and why. Beginning with foundational information about how wine is made, how to taste it, and how to understand terroir, wine expert and journalist Zachary Sussman then gives an overview of the most important and interesting wine regions today—both established and still emerging. For instance, the great French wines of Burgundy and Champagne are already well known, but for affordable bottles you can easily find at your local wine shop, Sussman profiles up-and-coming producers in other regions, including the Jura, Languedoc-Roussillon, and more. In a similar vein, California's Napa Valley has for decades been the source of America's most prestigious wines, but here you'll learn about other areas of the state that are gaining recognition, from Lodi to the Santa Rita Hills. You'll find user-friendly "just the highlights" notes for each region, as well as recommendations for producers and particular bottles to seek out. Diving deep into what makes each region essential and unique, this comprehensive guides gives new wine drinkers and enthusiasts alike an inside track on modern wine culture.

The Wine-dark Sea

The Wine-dark Sea
Author: Patrick O'Brian
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Total Pages: 280
Release: 1993
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 9780393035582

At the outset of an adventure filled with disaster and delight, Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin pursue a prize through the stormy seas and icebergs south of Cape Horn, where the hunters suddenly become the hunted.

Epistenology

Epistenology
Author: Nicola Perullo
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Total Pages: 161
Release: 2020-12-08
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0231552203

We think we know how to appreciate wine—trained connoisseurs take dainty sips in sterile rooms and provide ratings based on objective knowledge and technical expertise. In Epistenology, Nicola Perullo vigorously challenges this approach, arguing that it is the enjoyment of drinking wine as an active and participatory experience that matters. Perullo argues that wine comes to life not in the abstract space of the professional tasting but in the real world of shared experiences; wines can change in these encounters, and drinkers along with them. Just as a winemaker is not simply a producer but a nurturer, a wine is fully known only through an encounter among a group of drinkers in a specific place and time. Wine is not an object to analyze but an experience to make, creatively opening up new perceptual possibilities for settings, cuisines, and companions. The result of more than twenty years of research and practical engagement, Epistenology presents a new paradigm for the enjoyment of wine and through it a philosophy based on participatory and relational knowledge. This model suggests a profound shift—not knowledge about but with wine. Interweaving philosophical arguments with personal reflections and literary examples, this book is a journey with wine that shows how it makes life more creative and free.

Georgia: A guide to the cradle of wine

Georgia: A guide to the cradle of wine
Author: Miquel Hudin
Publisher: Vinologue
Total Pages: 301
Release: 2017-06-12
Genre: Cooking
ISBN: 1941598056

Recipient of the Geoffrey Roberts Award, this book delves head first into the 8,000 year-old wine traditions of the Republic of Georgia. A storied past, this mountainous country on the Black Sea is finally getting recognition for its unique and wonderful wines and grapes including Rkatsiteli, Saperavi, Chinuri, Krakhuna, Kisi, and over 400 more. Made in both the “international method” of barrel and tank aging as well as the ancient method of terracotta pots called “kvevri“, Georgia offers up a wine for everyone and delicious local dishes to accompany them. This is your complete guide to the wines, food, and people of this beautiful land.