Cork Dork

The Independent's 2017 Book of the Year and a 2020 London Eater recommended read for lockdown





'If Malcolm Gladwell were to write a book about wine, the results wouldn't linger much more pleasurably on the palate than this accessible, adventurous, amusing and informative book by Bianca Bosker' - The Times



Professional journalist and amateur drinker Bianca Bosker didn't know much about wine - until she discovered the world of elite sommeliers who dedicate their lives to the pursuit of flavour. Fascinated by their fervour and seemingly superhuman sensory powers, she set out to uncover what drove their obsession, and whether she, too, could become a 'cork dork.'



With boundless curiosity, humour and a healthy dose of scepticism, Bosker takes the reader inside underground tasting groups, exclusive New York City restaurants, mass-market wine factories and even a neuroscientist's fMRI machine as she attempts to answer the most nagging question of all: what's the big deal about wine? Funny, counterintuitive and compulsively readable, Cork Dork does for drinking what Kitchen Confidential did for dining out, ensuring you'll never reach blindly for the second cheapest bottle on the menu again.



Bianca Boskeris the former executive tech editor of The Huffington Post. Her work has appeared in the Atlantic, T (the New York Times style magazine), Food & Wine, the Wall Street Journal, the Guardian and The New Republic, as well as The New Yorker online. She is the recipient of numerous fellowships and journalism awards. She lives in New York City.



Accessible, adventurous, amusing and informative



Perhaps the most purely pleasurable book about wine ever written, this account of Bianca Bosker's journey from clueless wine boor to certifiable wine bore is everything wine writing so seldom is: nimble, self-aware, funny.



Bosker's journey into this sodden universe is thrilling, and she tells her story with gonzo élan.



Remarkably entertaining. Bosker is a talented writer, a thorough reporter and is unfailingly funny.



such a good story, so brilliantly written...Make this the first book you buy in 2018. YOU HAVE TO READ THIS BOOK.



A marvelous journey through the mad, manic, seductive subculture of wine and wine lovers.



I loved this book. It's not just about wine. It's about learning how to listen to your senses, to more deeply experience and appreciate the world around you, and everyone could use another glass of that.



A brilliant feat of screwball participatory journalism.



excellent