Winery tour guide Taylor O’Brian must weed out a killer before her own blood is spilled in this intoxicating series debut for fans of Laura Childs and Ellen Crosby Prospects are looking rosy for Taylor O’Brian, founder of “Off the Beaten Path” Wine Country Tours, who lives on a small winery with her Aunt Jemma and leads tours around romantic Sonoma County. At first blush, things are running smoothly, until a tour member is found dead—with Taylor’s corkscrew buried in her neck. Taylor has no nose for detective work, but as she begins to follow a trail of bottled-up secrets, events take a sour new turn. Only two weeks after the murder, her assistant Amy marries Dan, the dead woman’s husband, whose short-lived bereavement seems like a sham. And just as her investigation begins to take shape, Dan’s sister turns up dead. Could Taylor be next on the list? Now it’s up to Taylor to uncork this open-bottle mystery before more blood is spilled. A dry, witty, complex bouquet of a whodunit, A Case of Syrah, Syrah, the charming first in Nancy J. Parra’s Sonoma Wine Country mysteries, will delight cozy and wine lovers alike.

Winery tour guide Taylor O’Brian must weed out a killer in this intoxicating series debut perfect for fans of Laura Childs and Ellen Crosby. Prospects are looking rosy for Taylor O’Brian, founder of “Off the Beaten Path” Wine Country Tours, who lives on a small winery with her Aunt Jemma and leads tours around romantic Sonoma County. At first blush, things are running smoothly, until a tour member is found dead—with Taylor’s corkscrew buried in her neck. Taylor has no nose for detective work, but as she begins to follow a trail of bottled-up secrets, events take a sour new turn. Only two weeks after the murder, her assistant Amy marries Dan, the dead woman’s husband, whose short-lived bereavement seems like a sham. And just as her investigation begins to take shape, Dan’s sister turns up dead. Could Taylor be next on the list? Now it’s up to Taylor to uncork this open-bottle mystery before more blood is spilled. A dry, witty, complex bouquet of a whodunit, A Case of Syrah, Syrah, the charming first in Nancy J. Parra’s Sonoma Wine Country mysteries, will delight cozy and wine lovers alike.

Gluten-free baker Toni Holmes may not cook with wheat, but when there’s a criminal on the loose, she’ll do what it takes to figure out who has their finger in the pie… Even though Toni is used to going against the grain by preparing allergy-safe, gluten-free products for her online bakery, Baker’s Treat, opening a storefront in the middle of wheat country Kansas might be biting off more than she can chew. The town is already skeptical of her flour-free ways, but when a local wheat farmer is murdered outside her patisserie, skepticism turns into outright suspicion. With the help of her eccentric grandmother, her handsome lawyer, and the sexy new widower in town, Toni is determined to find the real criminal before bad publicity and increasingly personal acts of vandalism shut her down. But when another suspect winds up dead, Toni realizes that this half-baked killer isn’t just trying to get her to close shop—he’s trying to make sure that she’s made her last gluten-free cookie…forever. INCLUDES GLUTEN-FREE RECIPES

"Thoughtfully conceived and very well written, this is essential somm reading."—The Somm Journal "This is the most important wine book of the year, perhaps in many years."—The Seattle Times "Crisply written, impeccably researched, balanced if fundamentally enthusiastic, scholarly but accessible, and full of unexpected details and characters."—The World of Fine Wine No wine category has seen more dramatic growth in recent years than American Rhône–variety wines. Winemakers are devoting more energy, more acreage, and more bottlings to Rhône varieties than ever before. The flagship Rhône red, Syrah, is routinely touted as one of California’s most promising varieties, capable of tremendous adaptability as a vine, wonderfully variable in style, and highly expressive of place. There has never been a better time for American Rhône wine producers. American Rhône is the untold history of the American Rhône wine movement. The popularity of these wines has been hard fought; this is a story of fringe players, unknown varieties, and longshot efforts finding their way to the mainstream. It’s the story of winemakers gathering sufficient strength in numbers to forge a triumph of the obscure and the brash. But, more than this, it is the story of the maturation of the American palate and a new republic of wine lovers whose restless tastes and curiosity led them to Rhône wines just as those wines were reaching a critical mass in the marketplace. Patrick J. Comiskey’s history of the American Rhône wine movement is both a compelling underdog success story and an essential reference for the wine professional.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2018 ANDRE SIMON AWARD SHORTLISTED FOR THE FORTNUM AND MASON DRINK BOOK AWARD SHORTLISTED FOR THE JAMES BEARD AWARD With Red & White, Oz Clarke has reinvented wine writing. This is a book to read for pleasure, rather than merely refer to. Combining fast-paced witty memoir with passionately opinionated guide, Oz pops the cork on his life-long love affair with wine. The best loved wine communicator of our time, Oz Clarke is the guest you want at your table, the person to select the wine, and the ideal drinking companion. He explains how, why & where he fell in love with wine; he explains the essentials of how wine is grown and made today; then takes you into the world's wine regions and introduces you to the wines he loves. Oz reveals how he tastes wine and how you can enjoy wine whatever the budget. He covers with equal care & attention all categories of wine, from the blue-chip to the most affordable. With Red & White, you are in the hands of the best-informed and the most inspirational guide, and you will pick up, without even trying, a wealth of knowledge that Oz is bursting to share with you. With climate change and the move to organic & sustainable practices, wine is evolving faster than ever before. And hundreds of local grape varieties, until recently facing extinction, are also being rediscovered. There have never been so many brilliant & original wines. To discover them, all you need is a glass in your hand, a sense of adventure, and Oz's Red & White as your companion & inspiration!

Welcome to the Historic McMurphy Hotel and Fudge Shop--where life is sweet, revenge is sweeter, and murder is here to to stay. . . You Can't Fudge An Alibi Allie McMurphy is up to her neck in renovations at the grand old hotel that's been in her family for generations. With its quaint Victorian charm--and world-famous fudge shop--the place is one of Mackinac Island's most beloved landmarks. Sure, every family has a skeleton or two in the closet. But Allie didn't expect to find an actual corpse inside hers, especially one Joe Jessup, who had a long-running feud with her dear departed grandfather. Which makes Allie the number-one suspect. Can she sniff out the culprit before another victim checks in? "A sweet treat with memorable characters, a charming locale, and satisfying mystery." --Barbara Allan, author of the Trash ‘n' Treasures mysteries

A comprehensive guide to the must-know wines and producers of California's "new generation," and the story of the iconoclastic young winemakers who have changed the face of California viniculture in recent years. The New California Wine is the untold story of the California wine industry: the young, innovative producers who are rewriting the rules of contemporary winemaking; their quest to express the uniqueness of California terroir; and the continuing battle to move the state away from the overly-technocratic, reactionary practices of its recent past. Jon Bonné writes from the front lines of the California wine revolution, where he has access to the stories, philosophies, and techniques of top producers. In this groundbreaking debut, Bonné paints an unflinching portrait of the current state of the industry: its strengths and shortcomings, its essential wines and those not worth pursuing. Lush full-color photographs, as well as a region-by-region tour of some of California’s lesser-known growing areas, reveal the people and places behind the bottles. Finally, a comprehensive purchasing reference lists all the must-know producers and their best wines, making The New California Wine an essential resource for finding and buying the very best the state has to offer.

This book explores provenance, the study and documentation of how things come to be. Traditionally defined as the origins, source, or ownership of an artifact, provenance today is not limited to historical domains. It can be used to describe what did happen (retrospective provenance), what could happen (subjunctive provenance), or what will happen (prospective provenance). Provenance information is ubiquitous and abundant; for example, a wine label that details the winery, type of grape, and country of origin tells a provenance story that determines the value of the bottle. This book presents select standards used in organizing provenance information and provides concrete examples on how to implement them. Provenance transcends disciplines, and this book is intended for anyone who is interested in documenting workflows and recipes. The goal is to empower readers to frame and answer provenance questions for their own work. Provenance is increasingly important in computational workflows and e-sciences and addresses the need for a practical introduction to provenance documentation with simple-to-use multi-disciplinary examples and activities. Case studies and examples address the creation of basic records using a variety of provenance metadata models, and the differences between PROV, ProvONE, and PREMIS are discussed. Readers will gain an understanding of the uses of provenance metadata in different domains and sectors in order to make informed decisions on their use. Documenting provenance can be a daunting challenge, and with clear examples and explanations, the task will be less intimidating to explore provenance needs.

Jay McInerney has written unique, witty, vinous essays for over a decade. Here, with his trademark flair and expertise, McInerney provides a master class in the almost infinite varieties of wine, creating a collage of the people and places that produce it all over the world, from historic past to the often confusing present. Stretching from France and South Africa to Australia and New Zealand, McInerney's tour is a comprehensive and thirst-inducing expedition that explores viticulture, investigates great champagne and delves into a vast array of styles, capturing the passion that so many people feel for the world of wine.

Ever been baffled by a wine list, stood perplexed before endless racks of bottles at the liquor store, or ordered an overpriced bottle out of fear of the scathing judgment of a restaurant sommelier? Before she became a James Beard Award—winning food and wine writer, Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl experienced all these things. Now she presents a handy guide that will show you how to stop being overwhelmed and intimidated, how to discover, respect, and enjoy your own personal taste, and how to be whatever kind of wine person you want to be, from budding connoisseur to someone who simply gets wine you like every time you buy a bottle. Refreshingly simple, irreverent, and witty, Drink This explains all the insider stuff that wine critics assume you know. It will teach you how to taste and savor wine, alone, with a friend, or with a group. And perhaps most important, this book gives you the tools to learn the only thing that really matters about wine: namely, figuring out what you like. Grumdahl draws on her own experience and savvy and interviews some of the world’s most renowned critics, winemakers, and chefs, including Robert M. Parker, Jr., Paul Draper, and Thomas Keller, who share their wisdom about everything from pairing food and wine to the inside scoop on what wine scores and reviews really mean. Readers will learn how to master tasting techniques and understand the winemaking process from soil to cellar. Drink This also reveals how to get your money’s worth out of wine without spending all you’ve got. At last there’s a reason for wary wine lovers to raise a glass in celebration. Savor the insider’s viewpoint and straight talk of Drink This, and watch your intimidation of wine transform into well-grounded, unshakeable confidence.