This book provides an intimate glimpse into today's world of wine. It will help you to better understand the different tastes of wines and their sources, so you can successfully choose wines from a restaurant menu or a wine store shelf-without relying on ratings by others. Readers who are world travelers, by armchair or otherwise, can read about many places of interest to a wine lover. Discover restaurants and famous chefs all over the world, try their recipes, and learn about the great areas of the world for wine production and how to best visit them. In short-read this book to expand your knowledge and appreciation of the great culture of wine. About the Authors Mervyn L.Hecht (b. 1938) graduated from Harvard Law School in 1963. Since then he has written five books and hundreds of articles about diverse subjects, including food, restaurants, legal matters, investments, and wine. In 1997 he wrote the first edition of The Instant Wine Connoisseur, followed by the second edition in 2003. For the past 40 years he has been writing weekly restaurant and wine reviews for various newspapers in the Los Angeles area. Mr. Hecht is a certified wine judge for the state of California and has participated in many wine tastings at the California and Los Angeles County fairs, and for several years he taught an extension course at UCLA on wine tasting and wine service. John Blanchette (1946-2014) moved to Los Angeles and started a Public relations firm in 1984. During his career he represented Zsa Zsa Gabor, Ned Beatty, Cary Grant, Valerie Harper, Bob Hope, Michael Jackson and Debbie Reynolds, among others. During the past 15 years he wrote travel articles for the Copley newspaper chain and other news syndicates. The authors wish to acknowledge and thank Gerry Furth-Sides for her assistance in finding and editing the recipes in the book.