Great Wine Terroirs
Author: Jacques Fanet
"The vine and its wine are a great mystery. Only the vine reveals to us what is the real taste of the earth," writes Colette. In this sumptuously illustrated and wonderfully informative book, Jacques Fanet invites us on an entertaining tour of the world's most celebrated winegrowing regions to discover the characteristics of the bond that ties the vine to its place of birth: the terroir. Terroir is a uniquely French term for the subtle interaction of natural factors and human skills that define the characteristics of each winegrowing region.
Interviewing growers and researchers in France, Spain, Italy, California, Chile, Australia, and South Africa, Fanet looks for the soil in the soul of each wine. He takes us back millions of years to show how movements in the ancient bedrock, faults, mountain building, tidal flow, sedimentation, and volcanic activity contribute to the precise and individual character of each terroir, making the great winegrowing regions what they are today. Great Wine Terroirs provides wine enthusiasts with everything they will want to know about different soils and climates, the relationship between international grape varieties and the soil in which they grow, and how these factors affect the taste of the wines.
Color geological illustrations and timelines support the text and explain key phenomena. Fanet also provides a glossary, geographical index, and index of soil types and grape varieties. He explains enological practices and their effect on the terroirs and answers questions such as why the Châteauneuf plateau, almost 300 feet about the Rhône Valley, is surrounded by river alluvia and why there are fossilized oysters in the soils ofChablis. Those interested in the wine of California will find a lively discussion of the Napa Valley, with a detailed explanation of how the San Andreas fault, the Sierra Nevada, and the Great Central Valley have all played a part in creating the most spectacular wine-producing region on the continent.
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Colette's Wedding Cakes
Author: Colette Peters
In Colette's Wedding Cakes, master cake decorator Colette Peters brings us her most inspired creations yet. From traditional designs to works of luxuriant fantasy, Colette has a cake for every wedding style. With detailed instructions accompanied by color photographs, step-by-step line drawings, and patterns for the decorations, Colette presents thirty-two breathtaking cake-design projects. From building a tiered cake to mastering piping techniques and fashioning royal icing and gum-paste flowers, here is everything you need to know to create the wedding of your dreams.
Wedding cakes were once strictly white, multitiered confections, but today they vary according to such factors as theme, color, location, and time of year. Colette has arranged her designs by season. Her spring masterpieces include "Spring in Bloom," a resplendent pyramid of flowers, and "Chapeau de Fleurs," a flower-adorned, white top hat emerging from its box. Summer brings "Coral Reef," an aquatic vision of coral branches and seashells, and a Victorian "Independence Day Wedding Cake," complete with bunting swags and gazebo in patriotic red, white, and blue. For autumn, Colette offers "Blue Delftware," adapting the charming blue-and-white designs of Delft pottery, and "Fan Fare," whose crushed velvet appearance, offset with gold stripes and delicate flowers, is inspired by a Japanese kimono. In a festive winter spirit, "Satin Elegance" calls to mind the bows, pearls, and quilting of a formal gown, while the "Rainbow Room Cake" evokes the art deco splendor of this fabled nightspot. For those who prefer the more traditional, Colette suggests an exquisite heart-shaped "Valentine Cake" offset with doves and a wreath of flowers. Or you might turn tradition upside down - literally - with her "Pineapple Upside-Down Cake," whose festooned white tiers seem to defy gravity as they grow wider from the bottom to the top.
Whether with the delicacy of spring blossoms, the boldness of golden stars, or the tongue-in-cheek humor of ants marching up the side of a strawberry picnic cake, Colette provides an unrivaled collection of wedding cakes that will be the centerpiece of any wedding celebration.
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