Cork Dork: A Wine-Fueled Adventure Among the Obsessive Sommeliers, Big Bottle Hunters, and Rogue Scientists Who Taught Me to Live for the Taste (Thorndike Press Large Print Lifestyles)

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Bosker was raised in Portland, Oregon, by a professor of Russian language and literature and an E.R. physician. She was very nerdy growing up. “Could you tell?” she asked with a laugh. “I went to a very hippie private school,” she explained. “The biggest act of rebellion that one could do was not recycle. The biggest act of rebellion was being Republican.” Bosker is a journalist who learns of a sommelier exam and drops everything to learn more about wine from production to service and better understand and appreciate it. That sounds so dry. I’m not doing her justice. Here’s how she describes it, “it sounded like the least fun anyone’s ever had with alcohol. But I love a competition, the less athletic and more gluttonous the better, so when I got home that night, I did some digging to see what this sommelier face-off was all about.”

‘Cork Dork’ or Wine Snob: Who Is Bianca Bosker’s Book

On how to open a bottle of sparkling wine: “The cork should be twisted and released into a napkin with a pfft sound no louder than—and these are the technical terms I was given—a ‘nun’s fart,’ or ‘Queen Elizabeth passing gas.’” Cork Dork is a brilliant feat of screwball participatory journalism and Bianca Bosker is a gonzo nerd prodigy.This hilarious, thoughtful and erudite book may be the ultimate answer to the perennial question of whether or not wine connoisseurship is a scam.” In this delightfully written and keenly observed book, Bianca Bosker helps us becomeconnoisseursnot only of wine but also ofpeoplewhose passions would more aptly be described as obsessions.” Speaking as someone who barely knows a good Bordeaux from a bottle of Boone's Farm, I was charmed and entertained by this book. Everywhere she goes—whether it's into a busy kitchen or a vineyard, or into her own head—Bianca Bosker takes us with her.” –John Jeremiah Sullivan, author of PulpheadIn "Cork Dork," author Bianca dives into the world of sommeliers. Now, I like wine. I know what color I prefer (red). I also know what kinds I prefer (malbecs or pinot noirs are clutch in my book). I know that I enjoy wine but that is about it. This book opened my eyes to a brand new world. Much of this book looks at the world of sommeliers. A little bit of obsessiveness, a little bit of science. A lot of one of my favorite subjects! Refreshingly accessible…It’s delightful and informative to see a subject as potentially stodgy as wine appreciation refracted through the perspective of someone young, female, and very smart.” I am a journalist by training and a type-A neurotic by birth, so I started my research the only way I knew how: I read everything I could get my hands on, carpet-bombed sommeliers' in-boxes, and showed up at places uninvited, just to see who I would meet."

Cork Dork I Am The Cork Dork

A savory romp…[that reveals] not just the intricacies and nuances of flavor that vary from grape to grape, but why wine has become such a social staple for the entire world—and how the way we drink it can potentially change our lives.” I have read many ‘wine books,’ some casual, some pedantic, and many happily informative. But Bianca Bosker’s book stands out as being spectacularly successful in teaching us about wine, in making us love wine, and in presenting a tone of unfailing good humor.” And ultimately, Bosker comes to agree with this point of view. “Maybe that’s the thing about greatness,” she writes. “It defies formulaic expression.” There’s got to be mystery, she writes. “If greatness could be given by a formula, it would become trivial. But we know it when we taste it.”She explained that working as a sommelier in Terroir, she would sometimes get a table whose customers said, “Bring me anything, I can’t tell the difference.” And she’d bring them two or three wines and show them that yes, they could tell the difference. “I do see the book as my way of having the conversation that I would have as a sommelier maybe once, maybe twice a night, with tens or hundreds or, God willing, thousands of readers,” she said.

Book Review: Cork Dork by Bianca Bosker - Forbes Book Review: Cork Dork by Bianca Bosker - Forbes

The resulting book is a delightful blend of science, memoir and encounters with people who are deadly serious about wine. Taste and especially smell are underdeveloped human senses, but it is possible to train them: at the end of the book Bosker gets in an fMRI machine and proves that – like a London taxi driver with route-finding – there’s evidence of her brain having formed advanced connections in the areas involved in taste. Everyday wine drinkers may be particularly interested in the discussion of price versus quality, and the book made me think about how the passing pleasures of the flesh are still worth celebrating. Heat: An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany, by Bill BufordCork Dork Wine Study uses proven techniques from cognitive science which adapt to your memory and wine knowledge. Spaced repetition and interval-based active recall helps you maximize wine knowledge retention. Difficult flashcards appear more often, easy flashcards appear less often. You remember more with less effort. Wine study has never been easier! Three people are sitting by the table. They were chosen like the best sommeliers in country. On this ... [+] competition are presented best wines from wineries in region. They are holding glasses with red wine and looking at it to give mark for color. There are three more glasses per person in front of them with white and rose wine. Beside wine glasses, on the table are some boards with meat for them. This professionals are dressed in suits. Getty In this smart and sharply observed book, Bianca Bosker takes us on a marvelous journey through the mad, manic, seductive subculture of wine and wine lovers. It’s also a deeply felt story of her own experience, told with great heart and wit.”– Susan Orlean, author of The Orchid Thief ReadingBianca Bosker islikesitting down witha brilliant, curious friend for an after-work drink, and suddenlyfindingit’s midnight and the table is littered with empty bottles. Between her hilarious exploits and thoughtful meditations on wine and life, you’ll wanttostay forjust one more.”

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Cork Dork Wine Study free users can study Argentina, Austria, Fortified, Italy, Portugal and Spain. Upgrade to Cork Dork Wine Study Pro to study all categories. Cork Dork Wine Study Pro subscriptions will automatically renew unless canceled within 24-hours before the end of the current period.Both an entry-level guide to the ever-growing business of wine and a masterclass in the strange, immensely skilled fanatics who make it their life’s work.”