Swallow This

by Mark Phillips

Swallow This offers a whole new approach to wine, the Progressive Approach; that is pragmatic, easy-to-understand and consumer focused. Mark's humorous, irreverent style makes learning about wine fun. Topics covered When to microwave wine; What wine is best for wild sex; When to freeze wine; The most amazing way to open a bottle of sparkling wine; The hazards of keeping wine in your living room, or worse, in your kitchen; The one word that will solve all of your wine and food matching questions; Why buying expensive wine is a waste of money; The four sentences to say to a wine store clerk to get good wine every time; The advantage of storing wine in Tupperware, ziplock bags and plastic water bottles; Why buying wine by the ratings is stupid; The mating call of a wine geek; The trick to knowing what wine tastes like before you buy it; When it's appropriate to add ice cubes to wine; What wine is best while doing the laundry, mowing the lawn, etc.; The two words that take the intimidation out of wine; The 1:10 ratio to guide you on how long to age wine; The truth about using different shapes and sizes of wine glasses; Overview of the world s wine regions with buying recommendations; How the 20 minute rule will help you serve wine at the right temperature; What to do with the cork when the waiter gives it to you; When to send a wine back at a restaurant, even if it's not rotten and so much more. Witty, unique, fast-paced, and never, ever boring, Swallow This will be the most practical, entertaining, informative and enjoyable wine book on the market today.

Genres: Wine, Nonfiction

352 pages, Paperback

First published November 23, 2009

About the author

There are many authors named Mark Phillips. You have reached the default page for new books under that name, with no middle initial. A Goodreads Librarian can link the books to specific author pages. See this thread for a little more information. Librarians, check the comments/notes for more details.

Reviews

[Benj FitzPatrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's a section about hobo wines, what more could I want...

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sparkling White toast to Mark Phillips! This book broke my wine inferiority complex in the face of critics like Robert Parker whose picks I just don't always agree with. A great read if you're into wine but don't want to deal with all the B.S. that comes with it! Phillips' "Progressive" approach both makes sense and is novel; his tips for remembering the region, grape, and year that you love to help you find and love similar wines comes in handy for me all the time! Phillips also made me feel way better about my "always the right time!" wine-enjoying attitude when he listed such wine pairings as "what to drink when you're mowing the lawn," "the best 'Bum Wines' to drink on a budget," and "the best thing to pair sparkling wine with" - which turns out to be absolutely everything at any time of day. I got some great recommendations for good-value sparkling to try, and more importantly, gained a lot of confidence in being able to identify, profile, replicate, and communicate the types of wines that suit me best. Thumbs up!

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very fun read. I think Mark Phillips must throw a great party, and be fascinating to talk to. (Though by the time he got to recommending wines to go with grocery shopping I'm afraid for his liver) He obviously obsessively loves wine, and it comes through on every page. I also like his emphasis to drink whatever you like, no matter what someone else thinks. But sometimes the anti-snobbery reached the point to becoming it's own kind of snobbery. And I think there is some beginner information skipped because he has such an extensive knowledge of the subject that it didn't even occur to him that some people might not know what he's talking about. I'd still recommend it if you were interested in learning about wine.

[Lindon Gareis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Met the author at a Scottsdale Arizona function, I am not sure he is a very likable guy??? Had some fun ideas about wine: consumption, storage and purchasing. If you consider yourself a wine snob, or your friends think you are one, don't waste your time here. This book is for the real wine drinkers, "everyday Joe American".

[R · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun read that gives an irreverant view of wine.