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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The author documents the 1 1/2 years she spent studying and learning to become a sommelier. She tells of the experiences she had honing her tasting skills while also dishing out some juicy bits about swanky NYC restaurants and the service industry. She also uncovers, often humorously, secrets to the elusive descriptions of the flavors in wine. But so much of this book irked me. While she milked the sommeliers for knowledge, she in turn paints sommeliers as merely out to milk their fat obnoxious customers. So much is just for hype and story that at times it comes across as glitz and glamour article in “Hello” magazine. She - somehow - gets into numerous exclusive events where instead of theatre we are presented with clownish pantomine. 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." For Annie, the time and money required to take the Certified Sommelier exam is a financial hardship.But the pay raise that would result from achieving it would be worth it for her.

Cork Dork: A Wine-Fueled Adventure Among the Obsessive

On our journey, the author takes us on a tour through the wine world while discussing various topics including the study by aspiring sommeliers, and a discussion of our sense of taste and smell as it relates to the study of the fine wine world. In a poignant scene, Author Bosker describes taking the Certified Sommelier exam with Annie. Reading the book, tension is high as one is really rooting for the two of them. 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.

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Harris himself worried about how he was portrayed in the book for a similar reason. “The person I am as a sommelier is not the person I am as Morgan Harris the wine lover,” he told me recently. As a wine lover, Harris knows he can be intimidating, which is why as sommelier, he takes great pains to tone a lot of that down, precisely to avoid alienating wine novices or intimidating them. Cork Dork focused too much on “Morgan the wine lover,” Harris told me. It’s a problematic portrayal of a sommelier, “because there’s too much me in it,” he explained. Cork Dork is pitched as a ‘wine-fuelled adventure among the obsessive sommeliers, big bottle hunters, and rogue scientists who taught me to live for taste’.

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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. Some might consider those fighting words; not Bosker, who seemed to view the anger her op-ed ignited as confirmation. “One of the things that I found concerning about that reaction is that it speaks to this mindset of wine connoisseurs telling people what to taste,” she explained. “And one of the things that I hope to do with the book is to show people how to taste for themselves, because I think that is a much stronger foundation to create thoughtful drinkers than to say, ‘This is good wine, and this isn’t.’” What makes these scenes so fascinating to read is Bosker’s vivid voice. In fact, Bosker’s narrative voice is so colorful you might consider choosing the audio version so you can hear how well she mimics the smirky tone of some of the sommeliers she meets along the way. Activities Arts & Entertainment Beauty & Fashion Charities Education & Training Health & Fitness Home & Garden / DIY Hotels & Hospitality Motors Pharmacies Recruitment Trades & ServicesCork 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! Even though this formula is in printed form, it must be memorized and spoken aloud during a tasting group session. This book is in a familiar format for a certain category of non-fiction books, which is: Author stumbles on obscure subculture operating quietly but openly, usually, in New York City. Author investigates subculture and becomes fascinated. Author learns about the fiercely competitive high-stakes championship competitions of the subculture. Author takes it on his- or herself to enter, train, and perhaps even win fiercely-competitive high-stakes championship of the subculture, even though he or she is a newcomer and people normally train for years and/or endure many failed attempts before winning fiercely-competitive etc. 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.”

‘Cork Dork’ Sniffs, Swills and Spits Through the World of

Bianca Bosker, previously a technology journalist, gave herself a year and a half to learn everything she could about wine in hopes of passing the Court of Master Sommeliers exam. Along the way she worked in a variety of New York City restaurants, joined blind tasting clubs, attended an olfactory conference, and blagged a TopSomm guest judge spot. The challenge was not just about educating her palate, but also absorbing tons of trivia about wine growers and production methods and learning the accepted standards for sommelier service. Cork Dork follows the adventures of Bianca Bosker from tech journalist to cellar rat in the elite world of wine. Bosker takes us on a journey that reveals what it really takes to become a super-taster like the elite sommeliers around the world. I loved the combination of anecdotal evidence, idiosyncratic methodologies, and scientific research to better understand how you can hone your senses like the professionals. It really is fascinating. Cork Dork Wine Study Pro subscriptions will automatically renew unless canceled within 24-hours before the end of the current period.But is chronicling an arduous journey to achieve a kind of knowledge the same as demystifying that knowledge for others? In another telling episode, Bosker asks Grieco what he looks for in a bottle. 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.” As you move through the book you are taking this journey with Bianca Bosker. Please remain seated..........The details and dedication of becoming a sommelier is daunting. It's their job to help select a wine appropriate for the meal and the guests' tastes all the while making money for the restaurant. The markup is very significant when it comes to wine and beverages. When tech reporter Bianca Bosker stumbled across a wine tasting competition, she was blown away by the ability of sommeliers to "after a single sip of wine, identify the grape it was made from, in what year, and where it was produced down to the exact location, within acres." She was also intrigued by their passion for wine, as well as the passion of the many creators and collectors of wine. To determine what made wine so special to these people, she gave up her job and decided to try to become a sommelier herself. Starting as a 'cellar rat', storing and retrieving bottles of wine, she slowly works her way into the wine world. She eventually attends exclusive tasting groups and visits expensive restaurants and dinners for dedicated wine collectors. She also learns about the science of wine tasting and wine creation. This is the story of her experiences and what she learned.

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

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.”Closeup low angle view of group of unrecognizable people toasting with wine. This toast came after ... [+] serious wine tasting and scrutiny, uploaded soon. Getty