Ebook307 pages5 hours
Educating Peter: How I Taught a Famous Movie Critic the Difference Between Cabernet and Merlot or How Anybody Can Become an (Almost) Instant Wine Expert
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5/5
()
About this ebook
Lettie Teague knows wine. She has been the wine editor at Food & Wine magazine for almost a decade. The only question she is asked more than "Can you recommend a great wine for under $10?" -- great cheap white: Argiolas Costamolino Vermentino from Sardinia; great cheap red: Alamos Malbec from Argentina -- is "What is the best way to learn about wine?"
After many years of fielding these questions, Lettie was determined to debunk the myth that learning about wine is hard. She decided to find just one wine idiot and teach him a few fundamentals -- how to order off a restaurant wine list without fear, approach a wine merchant with confidence, and perhaps even score a few points off a wine snob.
Enter her neighbor, good friend and complete wine neophyte Peter Travers, Rolling Stone magazine's longtime film critic.
Peter Travers proved the perfect Eliza Doolittle to Lettie's Professor Higgins. As a film critic he made bold pronouncements ("This movie stinks," which could be readily translated to "This Cabernet tastes like Merlot") and exhibited a finely tuned visual sense ("The cinematography could be improved" could easily become "This wine is too white"). But, most important, Peter knew almost nothing about wine.
As Lettie begins their lessons, Peter puts down his ever-present glass of "fatty" Chardonnay and learns that there is a huge world out there full of all kinds of wine. He is taught to swirl his glass to release the wine's aromatic compounds -- or esters -- above the rim and vows, "I'm going to do that for Martin Scorsese next time I see him. I'll volatize my esters for him."
Thus Lettie enlightens her wine-challenged but film-savvy friend about the Facts of Wine: how to hold a glass; the vocabulary of wine; how wine is made; how to read labels; how to tell the difference between grape varieties; how to make sense of vintages; how to glean information about a wine simply by looking at the shape and color of the bottle; and an overview of the great wine regions of the Old World and the New.
Finally, after many fact-filled, hilarious lessons, Lettie takes Peter to the most famous American wine region of all, Napa Valley, where he hobnobs with wine and Hollywood royalty and finally puts his new skills to the test in the real world.
Part buddy movie, part serious wine tutorial, Educating Peter is as much a treat for oenophiles in on the joke as it is for beginners who think Chablis is a brand name of wine.
After many years of fielding these questions, Lettie was determined to debunk the myth that learning about wine is hard. She decided to find just one wine idiot and teach him a few fundamentals -- how to order off a restaurant wine list without fear, approach a wine merchant with confidence, and perhaps even score a few points off a wine snob.
Enter her neighbor, good friend and complete wine neophyte Peter Travers, Rolling Stone magazine's longtime film critic.
Peter Travers proved the perfect Eliza Doolittle to Lettie's Professor Higgins. As a film critic he made bold pronouncements ("This movie stinks," which could be readily translated to "This Cabernet tastes like Merlot") and exhibited a finely tuned visual sense ("The cinematography could be improved" could easily become "This wine is too white"). But, most important, Peter knew almost nothing about wine.
As Lettie begins their lessons, Peter puts down his ever-present glass of "fatty" Chardonnay and learns that there is a huge world out there full of all kinds of wine. He is taught to swirl his glass to release the wine's aromatic compounds -- or esters -- above the rim and vows, "I'm going to do that for Martin Scorsese next time I see him. I'll volatize my esters for him."
Thus Lettie enlightens her wine-challenged but film-savvy friend about the Facts of Wine: how to hold a glass; the vocabulary of wine; how wine is made; how to read labels; how to tell the difference between grape varieties; how to make sense of vintages; how to glean information about a wine simply by looking at the shape and color of the bottle; and an overview of the great wine regions of the Old World and the New.
Finally, after many fact-filled, hilarious lessons, Lettie takes Peter to the most famous American wine region of all, Napa Valley, where he hobnobs with wine and Hollywood royalty and finally puts his new skills to the test in the real world.
Part buddy movie, part serious wine tutorial, Educating Peter is as much a treat for oenophiles in on the joke as it is for beginners who think Chablis is a brand name of wine.
Author
Lettie Teague
Lettie Teague is an executive editor at Food & Wine magazine. She writes a monthly column for the magazine, "Wine Matters," for which she won the 2003 James Beard M. F. K. Fisher Distinguished Writing Award. She is also the illustrator and coauthor of Fear of Wine.
Related to Educating Peter
Related ebooks
The Wine List: Stories and Tasting Notes behind the World's Most Remarkable Bottles Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Year of Wine: Perfect Pairings, Great Buys, and What to Sip for Each Season Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Adventures on the Wine Route: A Wine Buyer's Tour of France (25th Anniversary Edition) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5To Cork or Not To Cork: Tradition, Romance, Science, and the Battle for the Wine Bottle Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Battle for Wine and Love: or How I Saved the World from Parkerization Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Harvests of Joy: How the Good Life Became Great Business Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Judgment of Paris: California vs. France and the Historic 1976 Paris Tasting That Revolutionized Wine Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Becoming a Sommelier Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Everything Wine Book: A Complete Guide to the World of Wine Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWine Talk: An Enthusiast's Take on the People, the Places, the Grapes, and the Styles Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Emperor of Wine: The Rise of Robert M. Parker, Jr., and the Reign of American Taste Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsParker's Wine Bargains: The World's Best Wine Values Under $25 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWinemakers of the Willamette Valley: Pioneering Vintners from Oregon's Wine Country Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsChasing the Dram: Finding the Spirit of Whisky Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Accidental Connoisseur: An Irreverent Journey Through the Wine World Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Wine 101: An Introduction to Wine and Wine Tasting Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Love Wine: A Memoir and Manifesto Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Savoy Cocktail Book Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Drink a Glass of Wine Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSour Grapes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLiquid Memory: Why Wine Matters Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Sniffing the Cork: And Other Wine Myths Demystified Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5First Big Crush: The Down and Dirty on Making Great Wine Down Under Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Manhattan Cocktail: A Modern Guide to the Whiskey Classic Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOz Clarke on Wine: Your Global Wine Companion Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBut First, Champagne: A Modern Guide to the World's Favorite Wine Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/599 Bottles: A Black Sheep's Guide to Life-Changing Wines Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Goode Guide to Wine: A Manifesto of Sorts Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Widow Clicquot: The Story of a Champagne Empire and the Woman Who Ruled It Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Wine for Normal People: A Guide for Real People Who Like Wine, but Not the Snobbery That Goes with It Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Food Essays & Narratives For You
Kitchen Witchery: Unlocking the Magick in Everyday Ingredients Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Cooking with Nonna: Sunday Dinners with La Famiglia Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Native Mexican Kitchen: A Journey into Cuisine, Culture, and Mezcal Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Waiter in Paris: Adventures in the Dark Heart of the City Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Food IQ: 100 Questions, Answers, and Recipes to Raise Your Cooking Smarts Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Food of Taiwan: Recipes from the Beautiful Island Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Matty Matheson: A Cookbook Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Cash and Carter Family Cookbook: Recipes and Recollections from Johnny and June's Table Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Dishoom: The first ever cookbook from the much-loved Indian restaurant Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Essential New York Times Grilling Cookbook: More Than 100 Years of Sizzling Food Writing and Recipes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMary Mac's Tea Room 75th Anniversary Cookbook: History, Hospitality, and Recipes from Atlanta's Favorite Dining Room Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Fat of the Land Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Matty Matheson: Home Style Cookery Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen: Classic Family Recipes for Celebration and Healing Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Boba Cookbook: Delicious, Easy Recipes for Amazing Bubble Tea Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEat Race Win: The Endurance Athlete's Cookbook Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Bread and Wine: A Love Letter to Life Around the Table with Recipes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Expert Advice for Extreme Situations Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Fire of Peru: Recipes and Stories from My Peruvian Kitchen Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Edna Lewis: At the Table with an American Original Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Consider the Oyster Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5American Advertising Cookbooks: How Corporations Taught Us to Love Bananas, Spam, and Jell-O Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Cook's Tour: In Search of the Perfect Meal Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Nasty Bits: Collected Varietal Cuts, Usable Trim, Scraps, and Bones Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Art of Eating Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Big Macs & Burgundy: Wine Pairings for the Real World Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings26 Days: A Whole Food Plant-Based Diet and What You Need to Know Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Making of a Chef: Mastering Heat at the Culinary Institute of America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Educating Peter
Rating: 4.333333333333333 out of 5 stars
4.5/5
3 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Educating Peter - Lettie Teague
Enjoying the preview?
Page 1 of 1