Drinking Issue 2015: Try these at home

There’s not much that’s new in Jackson Meyer’s splendid volume, The Book of Wine: An Introduction to Choosing, Serving & Drinking the Best Wines (around $16 on Amazon), but it’s organized in such a pithy and accessible way that mountains of information are at your fingertips. “Wine 101,” his opening section, takes you through a brief history of the drink, then follows with a broad overview on wine types from sparkling to port, complete with suggested producers listed by price. He then finishes with a concise summary of what goes into generating the beloved beverage.

In part two, “The Wine Universe,” he breaks down the major grapes with an astute rundown of the main growing regions, aromas and flavors, acidity, tannin, body and major mixing partners (i.e. which grapes may end up in the same bottle). This is followed by suggested food pairings and his preferred producers. It’s a quick and easy way to grasp a complex subject. Once he’s covered all the big grape varietals, he summarizes wine regions and gives you handy ways to link grapes to specific geographical locales. There are also practical graphics that present information you’ll find on wine labels, which allows you to connect the type of wine to the region to the grape variety.

Meyer’s final section on choosing and serving wine addresses temperature, the physiognomy of taste, and it even tackles wine lingo and recognizing flaws. He’s got a chapter on navigating the restaurant wine list that flows into succinct suggestions on wine with food in a series of useful at-a-glance charts.

Finally, he thrusts the study of wine into the age of technology, with guidance on connecting to online reviews, blogs, social media and wine apps that unlock the secrets of the vine in a whole new way.

I also want to give a shout out to two books I’ve mentioned before that are still worth your attention. Quite simply, they’re the best in-depth tools for understanding wine basics and pairing wine with food. Kevin Zraly’s Windows on the World Complete Wine Course ($30) is accessible and entertaining, while Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg’s What to Drink with What You Eat ($24) is an essential reference that will unlock the secrets to the unfettered pleasure of food-wine alchemy. —Jon Palmer Claridge

If you enjoy cold-pressed juice, pick up raw food enthusiast Victoria Boutenko's Green for Life, dedicated to the superpowers of one vegetable category: greens. The leafy offerings pack a cornucopia of nutrients and minerals, and rather than losing out on their benefits (we must chomp our greens "to a creamy consistency" to reap their value, she writes), Boutenko suggests downing them more sufficiently in a glass, as a green smoothie.

In addition to an interesting comparison of the average American diet to that of chimpanzees, she discusses fiber, how greens are protein powerhouses, homeostasis and chlorophyll, the importance of stomach acid (super informative) and way more. Her book's a fun read for health and wellness junkies, as well as the curious.

Don't miss the green smoothie testimonials or recipes, with titles like Raspberry Dream, Mango-Parsley Pudding and Minty Thrill, nestled toward the back of the book when taking at crack at Boutenko's wisdom at home. —Meaghan Habuda

This article appears in Feb 26 – Mar 4, 2015.