Cork Dork: A Wine-Fuelled Journey into the Art of Sommeliers and the Science of Taste

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That the Hakkasan group chose Houston, a rising culinary destination with a surplus of monied residents, over New York or Los Angeles or even Vegas or Miami, is compelling to me.

Some of the funniest scenes of Bosker’s book take place during “tasting groups,” where a group of sommelier students get together to taste wine. The challenge was not just about educating her palate, but also absorbing tons of trivia about wine growers and production methods and learning the accepted standards for sommelier service. There were definitely parts of the story that caught my attention or I was able to repeat a fact to friends, but overall it was a bit of a struggle to get invested in Cork Dork. At first, I found the memory-arts subculture a little less off-putting than the wine subculture, mostly because the memory-arts subculture lacks the overlay of conspicuous consumption, fraud, snobbery, and greed that that are sadly present in the wine industry. I used to be SUPER INTO wine, even though I couldn't afford super nice bottles, but these days I'm more mildly interested than wholly enthused.But a backlash against the book appeared almost instantaneously, fueled by an op-ed Bosker wrote in the New York Times which bore the deliciously impetuous headline, “Ignore the Snobs, Drink the Cheap, Delicious Wine. I do think people who say they care about wine should be able to distinguish between processed and relatively unprocessed wines. Reading Bianca Bosker is like sitting down with a brilliant, curious friend for an after-work drink, and suddenly finding it’s midnight and the table is littered with empty bottles.

She taught me on the history of wine, the steps to become a Master Sommeliers, locations of vineyards, and much more. The terminology of sommeliers and wine merchants (necrophiliacs, hand sells, trigger wines, and cougar juice, for a few).Preserving Your Passion: A Glimpse into Luxurious Wine SanctuariesFor the discerning oenophile with a penchant for collecting rare and exquisite wines, ensuring the proper storage of these liquid treasures is. The book starts with Bosker's introduction to the world of wine, in which she describes her initial encounters with wine and her lack of knowledge and understanding of it.