Swallow This, Second Edition The Progressive Approach to Wine

Mark Phillips — 2016

The iconoclastic host of the PBS show Enjoying Wine with Mark Phillips, has been turning the wine world on its ear since it first aired. In his 2009 wave maker, Swallow This, Mark stirred things up even more to the delight of consumers. Now comes the second edition, and it's a doozy. Among its new material are topics such as how to "fix" wine if you don't like it; wine selection and pricing ratings for major retail chains' additional food and wine pairing guidelines; how global warming is significantly changing wine growing regions; and a list of restaurants with the best deals on wine in the major metros of every state. Mark offers a whole new approach to wine, which flies in the face of what has been traditionally taught and serves as a practical and empowering alternative. Witty, unique and never boring, Swallow This will change the way you think about wine.

Reviews

Elizabeth Moore@haddyaddy

Jun 9, 2022

Sparkling White toast to Mark Phillips! This book broke my wine inferiority complex in the face of critics like Robert Parker whose picks I just don't always agree with. A great read if you're into wine but don't want to deal with all the B.S. that comes with it! Phillips' "Progressive" approach both makes sense and is novel; his tips for remembering the region, grape, and year that you love to help you find and love similar wines comes in handy for me all the time! Phillips also made me feel way better about my "always the right time!" wine-enjoying attitude when he listed such wine pairings as "what to drink when you're mowing the lawn," "the best 'Bum Wines' to drink on a budget," and "the best thing to pair sparkling wine with" - which turns out to be absolutely everything at any time of day. I got some great recommendations for good-value sparkling to try, and more importantly, gained a lot of confidence in being able to identify, profile, replicate, and communicate the types of wines that suit me best. Thumbs up!