With boundless curiousity, humor, and a healthy dose of skepticism, Bosker takes the reader inside underground tasting groups, exclusive New York City restaurants, California mass-market wine factories, and even a neuroscientist’s fMRI machine as she attempts to answer the most nagging question of all: What’s the big deal about wine? What she learns will change the way you drink wine--and, perhaps, the way you live--forever. Chapters including ‘The Secret Society’, ‘The Magic Kingdom’ and ‘The Orgy’ give you a flavour of the style. But above all, it is penetrative and debates the question, ‘what is good wine and why should I care about it?’ In "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! Despite its failure to demystify wine, it’s impossible to read Cork Dork without learning a whole lot about wine, and wanting to learn much, much more; it is therefore a huge accomplishment. Even people who criticized the book admitted to enjoying it. Asimov, too, found it entertaining, and appreciated the strength of the writing. But he also found it to be symptomatic of a larger, very conventional, very American point of view. “You need a diploma,” was how he summed it up. Or, perhaps, an fMRI scan showing you’ve officially turned your brain into that of a connoisseur.

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

Rather than mastering blind tasting and the arduous rituals of sommelier service, Asimov believes that teaching people to enjoy wine is about teaching them the role of wine. “It’s just a beverage,” he says. “It’s meant to give us all pleasure, and that is often sufficient, but then there’s so much more to it, so many more levels to it,” he explained. There’s the history, the people, the personalities. Good wine is an expression of culture, and it comes from a place. It has a past and it expresses the personality and character of a people and a region, especially in the Old World, Asimov explained. “These are the things that I find fascinating about wine and that are often lost in an effort to focus wholly on this collection of aromas and flavors that comes from a glass in a vacuum.” Along the way, you’ll meet the madman who hazed me, the cork dork who coached me, the Burgundy collector who tried to seduce me, and the scientist who studied me.’ Bosker breaks open the world of your favorite beverage...[bringing]readers on her year-plus adventure of learning about everything from production to consumption." –Bustle, "The 20 Best Nonfiction Books Coming In March 2017" 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 Heat: An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany, by Bill Buford

In the book, Bosker describes finding a mentor in Morgan, an actual sommelier at a top New York City restaurant.

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The whole notion of connoisseurship is a by-product of geographic locations that don’t make wine in the first place, Asimov argued. And when you focus on the way connoisseurs like sommeliers taste wine, what you end up doing is alienating regular consumers, because you convey that that’s the way you’re supposed to do it, and the way they are currently doing it is wrong. “That creates this sense of tension and anxiety that a lot of people I think experience,” explained Asimov.For readers of Anthony Bourdain, Susan Orlean, and Mary Roach, a surprising, entertaining and hilarious journey through the world of wine. You’ll never feel lost in front of a wine list again." –Cynthia Graber and Nicola Twilley of " Gastropod ," via The Atlantic An informative and riveting read that doesn’t take itself too seriously—a much needed dose of reality the wine world could benefit from.” An interesting look at those with an unquenchable thirst for those unique bottles of vinicultural perfection.” 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.”

Cork Dork Restaurant - Westlake Village, , CA | OpenTable Cork Dork Restaurant - Westlake Village, , CA | OpenTable

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.Questioning blind tastings is a radical point of view, certainly a re-examination of some of the wine industry’s inherited wisdoms, despite Asimov’s elevated status. In his column and his book, How to Love Wine: A Memoir and a Manifesto, Asimov devoted his career to making wine more accessible and helping his readers embark on a journey of their own. In this context, Bosker’s journey in Cork Dork, which involved quitting her job and spending a year at 10 a.m. blind tastings with the highest-level sommeliers in the city, seems a lot less accessible as a starting point for novices wishing to learn about wine. Some of the funniest scenes of Bosker’s book take place during “tasting groups,”where a group of sommelier students get together to taste wine. Speaking as someone who barely knows a good Bordeaux from a bottle of Boone’s Farm, I was charmed and entertained by this book.” That being said, the Bosker we meet in the book is the type of person who takes up the whole sidewalk with her friends, who inserts herself into conversations she has no business being in, who loudly makes the party about her, who incorrectly corrects people when they're just trying to tell an anecdote. She's the girl at the party I always hate, but have to invite, because she's friends with BlahBlah and we'll never hear the end of it if she's slighted. Also, she'll probably show up even if she's not invited and make more if a scene than if an invitation had been extended.