SAMPLE BOOK, From Avery Books.

If ever there was a wine book of the times ~ like the times right now ~ Madeline Puckett and Justin Hammack have nailed it with Wine Folly: Magnum Edition of the Master Guide. Today, right now, the book has gone on sale. It’s a hard copy and it’s going to be a quintessential guide to have in any wine library. Completely visual with wine graphics and charts, bottles and maps, varietal characteristics for some old and some-new-to-you Wines to Explore, etc… This is the compilation of a massive endeavor, a book of the times, and an adoring audience so ready for quick sound bites to solidify the skeleton their fleshing out. It’s also a quick reference for anyone with great knowledge of wine and just wants quick navigating of facts and figures…

Madelyn wrote:

I am SO excited to send you this early hard copy of Wine Folly: Magnum Edition…. we love this beauty so hard, and I hope you find it as enjoyable and as useful…

This is my first foray into Madeline’s hard copy books. On-line? All over it. Having my own copy hadn’t yet materialized. So, I can’t compare, but I can tell you what an amazing body of word is enclosed between these two covers now.

Let Me Explain My Odd Photo Above

Yup, I took it. Why not something more traditional?

  1. It’s NOT a traditional wine book photo, per se.
  2. Because this photo is fun and nothing is more fun than kites, wine, and books.
  3. And who doesn’t want to go fly a kite, like right now, if that presented itself?
    1. The car engine is running as  I write this, to go do just that, seriously.

…And its composition

In 1971, I gave birth to my first child. I had already thrown out my TV years before. It was only producing junk, IMHO. But, when my daughter Katie Sunshine (yes, it was the times) became about two, I broke down and got another small box. The only channel Katie and I watched was PBS. And, the only programs we watched together were Sesame Street, Electric Company, and Mr. Rogers Neighborhood. By the time my daughter was four, she was reading proficiently, knew her numbers, and was writing love letters to me. We had a schedule for watching, so it was home schooling at two.

She learned easily, because everything was in soundbites, graphs, charts, letters, numbers, songs, and a neighborhood of animation. We laughed and sang, counted and learned all about our happy neighbors. Numbers flashed, tiny snippets of stories were told, then back to repetition for the letter and number for that day. All three of my kids are still singing those songs. This was the method I used to teaching my pre-school scholars.

So, why am I telling you all this?

Because this body of work is a manifestation of how that generation of children now think… In soundbites graphs, charts, daring to try new things, not their parents’ wine enthusiasts, etc.. They’re on their own with wine, and this book speaks VOLUMES to them (as well as for me for references).  It’s great for visual learners, too.

  • Wine Basics
  • Food & Wine
  • Grapes & Wine
  • Wine Regions

Just an example, so you guys get on board with this one… so easy to read and enjoy. In teaching, a really great teacher reduces something very complex to its lowest common denominator and then builds on that strong skeleton… A chart does that by eliminating articles, verbs, pronouns, conjunctions, objects, etc. Is there any quicker way to learn? A graph also visually just takes numbers to a snippet hieroglyphic.

So, the book, the kites, a bottle of wine called Confero by Aberrant Cellars. [One of our Diaz Communications clients, which is why the familiarity with this wine company.]

Why did I use the Aberrant Confero bottle?

Confero Defined (Latin)

  • bring together, carry/convey
  • collect/gather, compare
  • direct/aim
  • unite, add

This bottle of wine and wine book are both intended to do exactly that.

  • bring together, carry/convey
  • collect/gather, compare
  • direct/aim
  • unite, add

Yeah, you’re going to really enjoy this book, wine book lovers, wine writers, teachers, librarians, sommeliers, novices, and pros… It a book of the times.