The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Wine, Beer & Spirits

Wine: Take a globe-trotting tour of the world's great wine regions, from Bordeaux to Rioja, and from South Africa's Cape to Australia's Barossa Valley. Learn the five principal elements to look for when tasting a wine, receive practical advice on storing and serving wine and find out how to select wines to serve with food. Beer: This is an authoritative guide to the traditions of brewing and the drinking of beer. Discover amazing facts about the history, production and marketing of beer, take an exciting and informative journey around the world of beer and get the facts on regional brewing, with notes on the strength and taste of both popular and unusual brews. Spirits, Liqueurs and Fortified Wines: This is a definitive guide to spirits, liqueurs and fortified wines, including information on non-alcoholic mixers and details of where and how each drink is made. It includes instructions for making more than 100 cocktails. This expert and accessible reference guide provides all the facts you need to enjoy wines, beers and spirits to the full, with fascinating background information on how they are made, best-known producers and brand names, flavours, aromas and serving advice. Find out more about wines that you have heard of but never tasted; discover new producers and the techniques and trends of winemaking. Discover the world of beer, from the ancient breweries of Flanders and Bohemia, to exotic locations of the Far East and Africa and the thriving micro-breweries of the United States. Learn how to mix up a Moscow Mule or Margarita, and how to pour the perfect Martini. This exhaustive reference gives a fascinating insight into the vast range of brewed and fermented drinks. Combining informative text with more than 1500 glorious photographs, hand-painted maps and delightful illustrations, this is an essential guide to identifying and serving alcohol-based drinks.