This completely new and updated edition of the 1985 classic Mastering Wine, winner of the Cliquot Prize for the best wine book of the year, provides a complete course in tasting and understanding the virtues and flaws of wine of all kinds--in your home and without bankrupting you. Tom Maresca's ingenious do-it-yourself guide to mastering wine is based on comparing two wines at a time; his one unyielding rule is that there is no wrong answer to the question "Which wine did you like better?" Each pair leads you to the next, and your own taste charts the course.

You may proceed through the carefully planned sequence of over forty different pairs of reds, whites, rosés, and sparkling wines, or follow the directions to the wines of a particular region or a particular class, such as Cabernets.

Whichever route you opt for, Mastering Wine can provide you with an acquaintance with the major kinds and classes of dry dinner wines, a painless introduction to wine terms, and practice in the art of tasting and analyzing wine--of any kind. Anyone who would like an introduction to wine or a wider appreciation of the infinite variety of wines will find Mastering Wine the only practical, enjoyable, and affordable choice.

Award-winning wine author Tom Maresca writes in simple, clear, and sensible language that punctures the pretensions and mystique associated with wine. He introduces a new way of thinking about how and why certain wines go well with certain kinds of food--and why others don't. Maresca also provides a down-to-earth explanation or how wines change as they mature; he suggests wines suitable for short- and long-term cellaring; and he lists six wines that you can keep on hand to suit most every occasion. For clarity, wit, good taste, and adventurous enjoyment The Right Wine is the essential accompaniment to wine of any vintage.