If you buy one SA wine book in 2009

... then Michael Oliver''s ''Crush! – 100 South African wines to drink now - 2009'' is the one to get! Crush! is "the most compact and entertaining wine guide available. This book will demystify wine for you...and give you some confidence when you talk ‘winespeak’."

 

“I taste hundreds of wines each year; the ones in my book all said ‘WOW!’ to me - I hope they do for you too.” - Michael Olivier

 

Each year guides are produced that offer hundreds if not thousands of wines – in fact, just about every wine ever made.

 

This is the guide that is different: Crush! gives you suggestions of 100 award-winning wines to drink, and to drink now.

 

Crush! divides what you should be drinking into 4 easy-to-understand sections:

 

• Strapped for cash?
• Looking for a Midweek Wonder ?
• Are you Out to Impress?
• Are you ready to Splash Out? 

 

 

 

 

Crush! helps you choose when you’re confronted with hundreds of labels.

 

Each description not only gives you a precious drop of information about the winemaker or the estate, but also suggests how to taste the wine. The writing is warm and personal and full of heart, exactly as the author himself is.

 

Included in the guide are ‘The Crush Awards’ - the Wine of the Year, the Winery of the Year and the Best Wines of the Year. Included is The Raw Material section which takes the reader through the varieties of grapes used in wine making

There is a piece on organic wines “Don’t panic it’s organic” and a list of specialist wine shops.

 

The guide, the foreword of which is written by South African Wine Legend, Dave Hughes, captures the essence of life of a bon vivant who finds immeasurable enjoyment in the tasting and advising of the delicious feast that is the wines of South Africa today.

 

Make the wine-lover in your life''s New Year happier with a gift of  Crush!

 

Available at select Exclusive Books stores, or online at kalahari.net 

 

About the Author

Michael Olivier is a well respected – and loved - wine and food fundi.

 

Michael grew up on a wine farm in Durbanville in the Western Cape.  Wine and food was always part of the amazing family life he led as a boy and these have continued to be central to his wonderful life. 

 

As a result the mystique and elitism that is created around wine to him is all puffery and creates a barrier to the love, understanding and sheer joy of wine.

 

In this book Michael answers the questions asked so often of him as a wine writer. He directs the reader to the right bottle for the right occasion - and at the right price.

 

Amusing anecdotes about the winemakers, winespeak and food matches abound, all in a language easily understood by all.

 

Michael lives in Claremont, Cape Town with his wife Maddy, their children Amy and Peter, and Tessa, their chocolate brown Labrador. 

 

And a good corkscrew for those who insist on still using corks.

 

For more from Michael Oliver, and great local food and wine, go to www.noshnews.co.za

 

 (Main Image of CRUSH cover - used with permission by Michael Oliver)

(Smaller image: by elusive on flickr http://flickr.com/photos/elusive--/2210126436/ under creative commons licenses http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/deed.en)