Customer Review: Supreme knowledge

Waldin's knowledge of his subject is immense but conveyed with an ease.

He is clearly no stooge to the grand marques and is forthright in his opinions without being pompous.

Whether you're a wine lover or merely someone that loves the countryside, this book is really all you'll need for a terrific week in Bordeaux.

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Customer Review: indispensible

When I was planning for a wine trip to the Rhone a few years back, this was one of the many references I used. And it turned out to be the best. For travellers who want to visit the most interesting vineyards, stay at comfortable hotels, eat in excellent hotels, without robbing a bank, don't leave home without checking out this book first! Since then, I have used books Hugh Johnson and Hubrecht Duijker for other forays to different appellations around the world. And I am still having a whale of a time ...

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An award-winning journalist delves behind the scenes of a chilling true crime story aired on TV's 48 Hours Mystery -- and uncovers twisting revelations inside an already shattering case of double homicide. Halloween night in idyllic Napa, California: two young women roommates -- a transplanted Southern beauty queen and a popular engineering graduate from the Napa area -- are brutally stabbed by an intruder who entered their home through a first-floor window. A third roommate heard the horrific commotion but never saw the killer. News of the tragedy sent shockwaves throughout the peaceful region as well as the nation -- but while investigators pursued every angle from a satanic cult to a disgruntled suitor, the murders of Leslie Mazzara and Adriane Insogna remained unsolved. Until someone came forward with a shocking confession -- someone who was close enough to the women to escape suspicion. Someone who knew the victims all too well. Complete with up-to-the-minute court action and the stunning crime scene breakthroughs that turned the case around, here is the full story of the Nightmare In Napa.

Customer Review: Nightmare in Napa

I just finished "Nightmare". I thought it was a well written book. It told the story of two young women, brutally murdered in their home. The killer, unknown at the time, turns out to be someone close to them. I didn't feel like the author portrayed Ms. Mazzara as a wild child. I had the impression she was a beautiful, spirited, kind, young woman. The author did a good job of conveying to the reader, that these women were an assest to our society and it's a tragedy, they are no longer here. The end, is sad and pathetic. Copple is a lowlife punk and he never gives a reason as to why he felt the need to kill two wonderful people.

Customer Review: Dull story

Nightmare in Napa was a big disappointment after reading another book in the 48 hours series. The book starts out well enough by describing the victims and their various friends and then the crime itself. However, there is very little mentioned about the investigation until over halfway through the book. There is so much time devoted to the victims that it almost reads like a biography. The problem is that these are not especially interesting people. Eventually, as I continued reading, I was let down by finding out the investigation was dull as well. This story contains about an hours worth of a compelling mystery, which is perfect for the TV show, but not so much for a book.

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This indispensable atlas is packed with details on the world's best loved wine country. The wines and traditions of every region are covered, complete with listings of recommended producers, hotels, restaurants, and places of interest. The text is illustrated with detailed specially commissioned maps of each region.

Customer Review: Excellent guide to wineries in France

My husband and I wanted to do some time in "wine country" during our 1 year stay in France. We picked up this book at a local "english language library" and it was great! It really gives a lot of good information about the regions, the wineries, and the traveller's perspective on wine country in general. We've also used it extensively to document our pictures after the fact -- you know how you can forget the names of the 20 chateaux and 12 towns you visited! Well, this book provides enough information to put it back together when you are looking at a picture of a very pretty building which you cannot remember the name of. It doesn't cover particular wines in detail (mentioning only a few), but for wineries, its a great guide.

Customer Review: very useful in locating wines and their vineyards

The Wine Atlas of France by Hubrecht Duijker (with support from Hugh Johnson) is the best way to start exploring the various famous French wine regions by car. After presentation of the history and a description of a particular wine region, the book lists the address and describes the important wine estates of the region. Suggested routes for driving as well as listings of the top regional restaurants and hotels, in order to recover from the wine tasting. Besides excellent maps of different scales to find your way round the book has superb pictures so that you know what to expect. Alternatively, you may first want to use the book to browse through the various wine regions. Even without using the book as a travel guide it is very useful in locating wines and their vineyards.

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Customer Review: Excellent introduction and travel guide

This is a superb book for the wine enthusiast, combining a travel guide to the Bordeaux region, primer on the growing and production process, and guide to the various appellations. It is especially useful for the wine enthusiast like me, who has some basic knowledge but no real expertise. It would be very useful in planning a trip to the region, and I plan to try it out later this year.

Customer Review: Descriptive and useful

It's been a pleasure to read a book like this in english. It is very descriptive (a "must" for a book like this), although not to the grade of being short-minded; on the contrary, it is very useful.

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Despite its vast repertoire, variety, and recipes bursting with flavor, Hungarian cuisine is one of the most underappreciated and unknown European cuisines. There are few Hungarian restaurants outside the country so those who are interested in discovering Hungarian cuisine (and any food lover should be!) must go to Hungary to sample everything firsthand, prepared with real Hungarian ingredients–now by a new generation of talented chefs and winemakers. Despite the fact that last year more foreign tourists visited the city than ever before (36.6 million), there are still no guidebooks written in English focusing on Budapest restaurants and Hungarian food. Carolyn Bánfalvi has written the first culinary guide to Budapest, Food Wine Budapest. This book is a practical guide that contains the vocabulary you’ll need (one obstacle to discovering Hungarian food and wine is the difficult Magyar language); dozens of restaurant, café, and shop reviews; and descriptions of Hungarian dishes and wines. The Hungarian wine industry is young, dynamic, and relatively little known outside of the country, which makes sampling its wines deliciously adventurous. The book will ensure that readers have memorable eating and drinking experiences. Throughout Food Wine Budapest there are also sidebars providing local color and in-depth information.

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There is no better way to enjoy wine than at its source, and it is in Europe, the birthplace of wine, that you can find still the most beautiful vineyards in the world. Wine Country Europe is a dream tour of the Old World's most celebrated regions, from the famed areas of France and Italy to lesser-known discoveries in Austria and Hungary. These breathtakingly picturesque wineries make for perfect travel destinations, and in full-color photographs throughout, the book reveals the amazing variety of landscapes that foster vineyards throughout the continent. The authors, both Italian natives, give insider's tips on which vintners give the most entertaining tours, what to ask for in the tasting rooms, and how you can experience firsthand the terroir that makes each region unique. Each of the twenty chapters focuses on a particular region and includes not just descriptions of the wineries and labels, but also recommendations for nearby restaurants, hotels, and attractions. Whether indulging in armchair travel or embarking for a real trip of tasting and touring, Wine Country Europe offers an irresistible look at Europe's most inviting wineries.

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This completely revised edition of Michele Anna Jordans much praised cookbook features 200 recipes, touring information, and cooks sources, making it the definitive food lovers guide to Americas Provence.

Sonoma County stretches from the fog-cooled coast of Northern California to the Mayacamas Mountains in the east; it hangs like a plump grape cluster west and northwest of its neighbor, Napa. Less than an hour away from San Francisco, this celebrated region has become synonymous with good taste, high-quality culinary ingredients, and the best food in the world. Originally published in 1990 by Addison-Wesley, The New Cooks Tour of Sonoma includes 200 recipes, extensive sections on wine and the burgeoning olive oil industry, and engaging portraits of the regions cheesemakers, dairymen and women, breadmakers, farmers, and chefs. With sixteen pages of spectacular color photographs, this gorgeous cookbook shows how the place, its people, and its food are inextricably linked.

Customer Review: This cook's tour

I received this book as a gift, and read it quickly, almost as a travelogue, wondering what it would be like to live in this vividly described area. Later, I visited Sonoma County and used the book as a guide. I visited a cheese factory, two farmers' markets, a small winery and an artisanal herb garden, led to each location by the informative guide with which I had been gifted. I used several of the clear, easy to follow-and execute-recipes with food bought from the sources suggested in The Cook's Tour. After returning home, I contine to read the book to remind myself of the glorious visit to Sonoma County, and as an inspiration for food purchases and discoveries I would normally have never attempted.

Customer Review: She's done it again

I had my eyes opened when I purchased the original Cook's Tour many years ago. Being a native of Sonoma County, I was fascinated by all the things I didn't know about my home county. Michele gave a face to things I had passed by blindly for years...farms, cheesemakers, gourmet stores, festivals. In the new edition of Cook's Tour she presents us with an ever richer trip through the wonders of Sonoma. She teaches us about the wine appellations and what crops thrive right along with the grapes of that region. She includes political information that supports the farmer and sustainable agriculture. She updates us on new cheesemakers, new purveyors and celebrates the staying power of the old. Once again Michele gives a face to Sonoma County, but this time she introduces us by name and helps us start a conversation. Her recipes are wonderful, making use of all the bounty that is available locally. I feel the circle of belonging to a place close as I drive through the country she writes of with such affection and then buy produce and ingredients, ultimately cooking dishes that are truly local in origin and taste. "The New Cook's Tour of Sonoma" makes me grateful that I live in this magic place. Thanks to Ms Jordan for opening my eyes even wider.

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Customer Review: To Change or Not to Change?

The author quotes Barna to tell us that it is easier to start a new church than to attempt to resurrect and old one. This being the case, one wonders what might be the advantages of trying to pour new wine into old wineskins. The question itself is presented in the opening chapter of the book, but it is never really addressed until the very end of the book where it is summarily dismissed. We are given a listing of the problems faced in trying to change the church without ever answering the fundamental question of whether we should even be trying to change it.

Throughout the book the reader is given to opportunity to look over the shoulder of Pastor Gary and his attempt to bring change to Chapel Hill Community Church. This is used as a springboard in each chapter to catapult us into the next series of tactics and strategies on change. Fundamental to the process of change is the person of change. The reader is invited to compare the qualities of a successful change agent with his own personality to see whether he "measures up."

The work is highly useful is setting forth necessary steps in bringing about change. By utilizing real-life examples, we are treated not only to the theoretical, but to the flesh and bone practicality of change. If there is a downside to the book, it is perhaps in not stressing what can be the disadvantages in attempting to bring change or in attempting to bring it too hastily. We are told on page 118 that the average pastoral tenure among Protestants is 3.7 years. It is likely that some of these are cases where change was attempted far too rapidly.

On pages 49-50 we are treated to a wonderful parable of animals attempting to function outside the realm of their gift. I personally have a tendency to see the need for evangelism and feel as though I ought to be doing more in this area. But the Lord has gifted me primarily as a teacher and I do my best evangelism when I am functioning in this role.

The wise leader will use the nostalgia and the difficult circumstances as a foundation to build a better tomorrow... The pastor calls for a return, not to the "good old days," but to the Biblical values that made the old days good (Page 131).

Customer Review: Good Assessment and Insight

Malphurs shines again in this volume regarding how to be a church change agent without destroying the congregation. I have yet to read a title Malphurs has written that was not worth the purchase price. In this book, the author analyzes change from several different perspectives, and then offers his insights on how and when to affect it.

I recommend this title to any pastor or any other full-time staff person who is wanting to introduce change into an established church congregation.

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