Cigar box. Bacon Character. Fleshy overtones. Extracted palate. Barnyard. That wine could have such associations might cause the uninitiated to regard wine verbiage as barnyard in its own right. Though these idioms do have a practical value to the professional wine taster, the stereotype (serious, bow-tied old men making bizarre characterizations in between gurgles) doesn t need much comedic assistance, similar to that of the secret handshakes of Masons.Illustrated by the well-known Australian cartoonist Roger Roberts, this charming little book explores this curious realm of wine terminology by creating a visual lexicon on the far side of a wine world where its language ( barnyard, exotic nose ) is taken literally. Sometimes brash, sometimes cute, Robert s work is always good for a chuckle.In between Robert s visual puns, professional wine taster Judy Valon gives a serious and solid primer on enjoying red, white, sparkling and fortified wines, how to identify wine faults, proper entertaining and serving procedures, and, of course, the functioning definitions of common tasting terms.The book is also loaded with delightful classic and obscure wine aphorisms, such as: Wine is the proof that God loves us, and loves to see us happy. --Benjamin Franklin My only regret in life is that I did not drink more Champagne. --John Maynard Keynes

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