Why this book and what it's about

Life is only so long and we have only so much time to enjoy and appreciate it. I know wine drinking has added to my enjoyment of life and expect the same is true for many of you, or at least you are interested to find out more about how to enjoy wine and make it part of your daily life. It took me 40 years to learn what I know now about drinking and enjoying wine. The journey was one of serendipity, making many mistakes and overbuying / overpaying for my wine purchases. I made mistakes storing wine and not doing the ‘little’ things like opening and decanting wine properly or using proper glassware to get maximum flavor and enjoyment when tasting. It has only been in the last 10 - 15 years that I have improved my abilities to enjoy and appreciate wine. I want to shorten that journey for you!

Looking back, I realized that I have spent about double for the wine I purchased. I also did not know how to get the most from many, let alone all of my wine drinking experiences. I do not want you to suffer through that for as long as I did! This book presents the knowledge and the path to make wine drinking a more comfortable and enjoyable experience. It also provide many tips on how to improve those experiences.

This book is about how to enjoy drinking wine and quickly get better at it. Wine is enjoyed sensually, intellectually and emotionally. We first experience wine through our five basic senses of sight, sound, smell, taste and feel. Wine Sense will help you understand how wine’s interaction with your senses works. It explains the cross-modal nature of wine drinking initially using our sense of sight to build anticipation, and then using our senses of smell, taste and feel in an integrated manner to truly enjoy wine drinking.

If you want to learn more about wine drinking and do so quickly, take a few minutes to review the Table of Contents and read the Introduction below. If you have any interest in wine drinking and want to quickly improve your wine drinking knowledge and experience, then Wine Sense is for you.

Intended audience

Wine Sense has something for everyone. If you are new to and enjoy wine drinking, but uncomfortable when it comes to making your purchasing decisions, determining what bottle to bring to a party, or what to discuss when drinking wine with others, then this is the perfect starter book for you. If you are an experienced wine drinker, but want to understand how your senses works and how to improve their use when drinking wine, this book is for you also. And if you are a sophisticated wine drinker, yet yearning for some helpful tips on improving your tasting ability and wine drinking experiences, or wondering how to gain further experience and bring your abilities to the next level, possibly even becoming a wine judge or sommelier, this book is for you also!

Wine Sense consolidates 40 years of wine drinking experience, advice from many different wine experts and research from 20 other books on wine to provide you a single source to quickly improve your own experiences.

if you like reading Ebooks and using the hyperlinks to quickly move around the book or to external websites with supporting information before continuing, then you should order an Ebook copy. And If you like to sit and read a physical book end-to-end, you should order a hardcover copy of the book. (Each hardcover copy also includes an Ebook version at no extra cost!) And in both cases, you should have a glass of wine at your side when reading the book as you will be able to experience and learn along the way.

The Plan

The content of Wine Sense was completed end 2013 and is undergoing final editing and revisions. The book’s content is currently being reviewed by several Masters of Wine, winemakers, sommeliers and others in the wine industry for accuracy. Most importantly it is being reviewed by members of its intended audience to ensure it is easy and enjoyable to read.

The steps to complete Wine Sense are:

• March / April 2014: Expert and intended audience feedback and final edits
• March / April 2014: Production photos, graphs and footnotes / endnotes incorporated
• April 2014: Final proofing and layout design
• May 2014: Packaging and formatting for physical print run and uploading to Amazon, iTunes and other eBook distributors
• June 2014: Availability of Ebook version delivered to all Ebook and hardcover book purchasers
  
• June / July 2014: Print run, packaging and delivery of sponsorship packages including shipment of hardcover books
  

All hardcover copy preorders will also have the choice to receive a free copy of Wine Sense in Ebook format available in June!

Your support when preordering or becoming a patron and sponsor is allowing Wine Sense to make a significant addition to wine education and enjoyment globally. You are making Wine Sense a book of the highest possible quality and enjoyment for all. Thank you for your support and being part of this collaborative effort to get Wine Sense to market!

About Steve Shipley

I am a wine enthusiast and writer without affiliation to commercial wine ventures or firms in the wine industry to ensure my opinions and points of view are strictly my own. During my life, I have purchased 5,000 bottles of wine, sold 2,000 bottles and currently have approximately 1,600 in my cellar. I have advised several restaurants on their wine lists and am asked constantly by chefs, sommeliers and restaurant owners for advice on wine, representing the view of the wine consumer and enthusiast. I live in The Hunter Valley, one of Australia’s iconic wine regions and actively participate in wine industry events, tastings and information exchanges.

My wife and I have studied cooking under Masterchef finalists over the last several years and she is a masterful cook. She writes a food blog, DAZ in the Kitchen which my wine blog, SAZ in the Cellar compliments. We regularly host corporate dinner parties for small groups and larger corporate events where we consult and organize venues and wine and food choices. In the second half of this year, we are curating much of our knowledge and writing an inexpensive 8-volume eBook series on food and wine with each volume comprising 10 recipes with matching wines plus cooking and wine buying and serving tips.

I have enjoyed wine increasingly over the last 40 years  and present many of my views and learnings through SAZ in the Cellar.  Wine Sense consolidates what I have learned about enjoying wine and enhancing wine drinking experiences. SAZ in the Cellar is almost two years old now and quickly approaching 200 posts.  My wine writing focuses on:

• Buying & selling
• Food and wine pairing
• Health
• Learning & education
• Lifestyle
• Reviews
• Storage
• Wine writing and media

During my career, I worked in the banking IT industry and still possess and use technology to support my writing and publishing. I have recently retired from corporate life and focusing full-time on writing and my publishing company InkIT Publishing. Wine Sense will be followed by the cooking and wine series of eBooks mentioned above. I additionally have four other writing projects underway in the area of writing technology and processes to support the independent author and publisher.  Additionally, I am working on a screen play on an important part of American history having to do with the McCarthyism era and due for completion in late 2015 or early 2016.