Wine Q. & A. is a different sort of wine appreciation book. Its author understands that a good number of people who read wine books do so simply because they want to know more than their friends do about the subject. And he believes that the ideal learning tool should engage all levels of interest. Presented in a question-and-answer, Trivial-Pursuit-stye format, author and lifelong wine consultant Gordon Sullivan takes a completely novel approach to wine learning. Wine Q. & A. is source material for both cocktail-chatter and deep study; it is as light or as heavy as the goals of the reader. Wine Q. & A. is designed to introduce readers to crucial characteristics of wine—its appreciation, its industry, its culture and history—by presenting à la carte nuggets of wine knowledge, key words and essential phrases in this easily digestible, “trivial,” form. That’s what makes its easy style effective and fun. Example: “Who was the first woman to own and operate a winery in California?”*

*Hannah Weinberger of Napa Valley (1882. She is also recognized as the first commercial woman winemaker in California). Josephine Tychson of Napa's Freemark Abbey is #2 (1886).