Review printed in the Tulsa World newspaper.

Wine. It doesn’t have to be uppity. Tulsa World file

Wine 101 … in 90 minutes
Books covering even the
most basic introduction to
wine might be more than
a beginning wine drinker
wants to absorb. The information
can be daunting, and
a trip to the store to face the
maze of bottles in the racks
can be even more bewildering.
Californian Ted Haupert
has written a book, “Ham From
Pigs Wine From Grapes,” targeted
at newbie wine drinkers
who want to have some
basic working knowledge
about wine but not invest a
lot of time or effort into the
process.
That mass of folks might
include those who want to
navigate a restaurant wine
list, serve wine to guests,
take a bottle to parties or
wrap up one as a gift with
some measure of confidence.
Others might just be looking
for a jumping-off place to
become an enthusiast.
In plain language and
with little fuss, readers can
learn about the winemaking
process, the differences in
wines, how to develop winetasting
techniques, how to
pair wines with foods and
even how to plan visits to
winery tasting rooms.
This pocket-size book is
a little more than 100 pages
long and can be read in an
hour and a half or less. The
information is easily retained,
and the book can be
kept handy for quick reference.
Haupert is not pretentious.
He’s not a sommelier or any
other kind of recognized
wine expert. He said he
wrote the book based on his
experiences working in the
tasting room at La Cereza
Winery in Temecula, Calif.,
where he interacted with
thousands of visitors.
The book is available at
Amazon.com or through
Haupert’sWeb site at tulsaworld.
com/haupertinc. The cover
price is $15.
—Scott Cherry,
World SceneWriter