Better Than Wine

This book offers a hermeneutical reading of Franz Rosenzweig's 1921 masterpiece, The Star of Redemption. In her analysis, Yudit K. Greenberg draws on German idealistic and Romantic ideas as well as Kabbalistic philosophical strands in Rosenzweig's thinking. She portrays Rosenzweig as a transitional figure between philosophy and theology, Judaism and German culture, modernity and postmodernity.

Bible scholar Herbert Lockyer explains the imagery and symbolism of the well-crafted poem, Song of Solomon, and uses it to illuminate the rest of Bible. In an age when many Christians feel betrayed, insecure, and alone, Lockyer’s words bring a timely reminder of the intimate refuge Christ offers us daily.

Fruit of the Vine: A Biblical Spirituality of Wine is designed to help the reader grow in spirituality through reflecting on biblical vineyard stores, wine making, and wine as a metaphor for life. A spirituality of wine--categorized as a spirit--connects the spirit in wine to the universal spirit all share. Wine appeals to all five senses. Its bouquet can be smelled; its complexity, often compared to fruit, can be tasted; its shades of red, designating its body, can be seen as it clings to or quickly runs down the inside of a glass. One can hear the pop as the cork leaves the bottle's neck and the gurgle of the wine leaving the bottle as it is poured into a glass. Wine is a major sign of transformation in the process of growth from blossom, sunlight, and water to grapes, which are in turn broken apart, integrated into a whole, and fermented into alcohol. While the wine is aged, it undergoes even more transformation. People are transformed when they share this already multiple-times-transformed beverage. The vineyard and all it produces can reveal the divine if a person but opens his or her eyes to see.

The vocabulary of wine is large and exceptionally vibrant -- from straight-forward descriptive words like "sweet" and "fragrant", colorful metaphors like "ostentatious" and "brash", to the more technical lexicon of biochemistry. The world of wine vocabulary is growing alongside the current popularity of wine itself, particularly as new words are employed by professional wine writers, who not only want to write interesting prose, but avoid repetition and cliché. The question is, what do these words mean? Can they actually reflect the objective characteristics of wine, and can two drinkers really use and understand these words in the same way? In this second edition of Wine and Conversation, linguist Adrienne Lehrer explores whether or not wine drinkers (both novices and experts) can in fact understand wine words in the same way. Her conclusion, based on experimental results, is no. Even though experts do somewhat better than novices in some experiments, they tend to do well only on wines on which they are carefully trained and/or with which they are very familiar. Does this mean that the elaborate language we use to describe wine is essentially a charade? Lehrer shows that although scientific wine writing requires a precise and shared use of language, drinking wine and talking about it in casual, informal setting with friends is different, and the conversational goals include social bonding as well as communicating information about the wine. Lehrer also shows how language innovation and language play, clearly seen in the names of new wines and wineries, as well as wine descriptors, is yet another influence on the burgeoning and sometimes whimsical world of wine vocabulary.

Wine Tasting: A Professional Handbook, Fourth Edition presents the latest information behind tasting, including insights on physiological, psychological and physicochemical limitations associated with sensory evaluation. The book's author notes how techniques may guide in achieving improved wine quality and adjusting production procedures to match consumer preferences, occupational hazards of professional wine tasters, and the latest information on types of wine, vineyard and winery sources of quality, and the principles of food and wine combination. Fully updated, this new edition includes coverage of the statistical aspect of wine tasting, including multiple examples to demonstrate the science of wine characteristic measurement and analysis. With its inclusion of illustrative data and testing technique descriptions, the book is ideal for both those who train members of tasting panels, those involved in designing wine tastings, and the connoisseur seeking to maximize their perception and appreciation of wine through a clear and applicable understanding of the wine tasting experience. Presents worked examples of complex statistics applied to wine tasting Provides a flow chart of wine tasting steps and production procedures, incorporating course and appreciation practices Discusses various types, purposes and organization of wine tastings Cautions about design errors that could invalidate data interpretation Explains practical details on wine storage and the problems that can occur, both during and following bottle opening

Become fluent in the universal language of beer Beer For Dummies is your companion as you explore the wide world of the third most-consumed beverage globally. Learn to recognize the characteristics of ales, lagers, and other beer styles. Perfect beer-and-food pairings. And embark on the ultimate beer tour, Dummies-style! Whether you're a beer novice or a brewery regular, there’s always something new to learn. We’ll help you pick the right beer for any occasion, understand why beers taste the way they do, and give you a handy reference to their strengths and ideal serving temperatures. This updated edition takes you a journey around the world of new beers—hazy-juicy in the U.S., Italian grape ale, Brazilian Catarina sour. You’ll also get up to date on the latest beer review apps and how the internet is shaping and reshaping beerdom. Cheers! Make an informed choice when selecting a beer and pairing with food Learn the fascinating process of brewing the different types of beer Discover world beer culture and new beer innovations Heighten your enjoyment of the subtleties of craft beer This book is an excellent resource for aiding your understanding, purchasing, drinking, and enjoyment of beer.

Lauro discusses the theologian Origen’s employment of three distinct senses of scriptural meaning (pertaining to the body, soul, and spirit) within his exegetical theory and practice and demonstrates how they interrelate to facilitate his audience’s spiritual transformation.

This first book devoted to Eastern Europe’s most important wine-producing countries provides detailed information on the region’s wine production history, climate and geography, and analyses the parts played by culture and politics in the development of these wine industries. Wine styles, important grape varieties and key wineries are detailed.