EXPLORE THE WORLD OF WINE
A Review of Microsoft Wine Guide
by Judy Pozar
Do you enjoy wine but wish you were more knowledgeable about it? Are you too shy to request a Pouilly Fuisse because you aren't sure how to pronounce it? Want to know which is more tannic - a Merlot or a Cabernet Sauvignon? What is an "appellation"? Is "Sangiovese" a grape variety, wine region, wine producer, or something else altogether? Microsoft Wine Guide will answer these questions for you, and a whole lot more.
Microsoft Wine Guide is a multimedia reference hosted by renowned wine expert
Oz Clark. The guide uses videos, audio, text, graphics, maps and more to
educate both novices and seasoned oenophiles. Videos demonstrate the key
steps in tasting wine, and illustrate the wine making process. More
experienced wine buffs will use the guide as a reference for wine, and to
increase their knowledge of wine varieties. Clark is a congenial host, with
refreshing wit and a no-nonsense approach. His flair for the dramatic (he has
performed with The Royal Shakespeare Company), his expressive voice, and his
extensive knowledge and obvious passion for wine have resulted in some very
entertaining and informative videos.
The guide has four main sections, plus the Wine Selector. Start with the
first section, Wine Tasting with Oz. Here you will find the basics, such as
descriptions of wine glasses, and how to open and pour wine. It is loaded
with videos, probably more than anyone needs (there are five videos in
"Opening the Bottle", three in "Opening Sparkling Wine", and one for each of
four different types of corkscrews), but better to have too much than too
little! There are several instructive video animations on how to taste and
appreciate wine.
Finally, there is the "Tasting Tour". With a witty
directness and much pleasure, Clark observes, smells, tastes and describes
eighteen representative wines from around the world. My favorite tasting
video was the New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. According to Clark, in this wine
we have asparagus, gooseberries, and canned peas (!), along with the expected
cut grass, green apples and lemon, of course. It made me want to run out and
try a bottle.
The simply titled "All About Wine" section provides a wealth of information about all aspects of wine. Explore life in the vineyard throughout the wine growing year using an interactive time line. With another interactive flowchart, find out how wines are made, from arrival of the grapes at the winery, through pressing, fermentation, aging and bottling. Many other subjects are covered in this section, including classic grape varieties, wine styles, reading wine labels, matching food and wine, aging wine, and planning your own wine cellar.
Next there is the World Atlas of Wine, which contains 57 interactive maps,
fifteen of which include locations of individual wineries. There is
information on geography, climate, history, classification systems and grape
varieties for each region. The text is not dry: "Only a bureaucrat could see
Italy as a single country. Her wines reflect that diversity..."
The Wine Encyclopedia section of the Wine Guide contains nearly 2000 entries
on wines, producers, wine regions and grape varieties. There are close to
6000 individual wine profiles, including tasting notes. Vintage charts and
maturity charts will help you decide what to purchase and how long to age
your wines. A glossary provides definitions for nearly 700 wine-related
terms. A nice feature is the ability to hear the names of wines, regions and
producers pronounced correctly.
The Wine Selector is probably the most useful feature of the Wine Guide for
the knowledgeable wine consumer. You can search the database of nearly 6000
wines, restricting your search by region, wine style, grape variety, star
rating and food match. Want to know which 2-star white wines go well with
anchovies? (There are thirty-two.) You can use the Wine Selector to develop
your own custom wine lists, which can be saved, modified and printed. You can
also search for specific text in the wine profiles.
You might use this to
search for a particular producer. A limitation is that you can specify only a
single word, with no embedded spaces, so you can't specify "Iron Horse" if
you want a list of that vineyard's wines. Fortunately there are other ways to
get that sort of information. For example, call up the "Iron Horse" entry in
the encyclopedia and click on Selected Wines.
Because the Wine Guide contains many sections, hypertext, a control bar and
numerous menus, it is easy to access the many topics available. On the other
hand, until you understand the structure of the guide, you might sometimes
feel lost. A little practice is all it takes to feel comfortable.
Installation of this product was more trouble than it should have been. I had
problems with memory and device drivers, not only when attempting to use this
product, but when trying to run many of the other programs already installed.
Attempting to play videos often resulted in a General Protection Fault error,
and sometimes the whole system locked up and had to be rebooted. The Read Me
file had the solution for this problem (insert the line "DVA=0" after the
"[drawdib]" line in the win.ini file). This product was originally installed
under Windows 3.1. It may be more compatible and easier to install with
Windows 95.
As is the case with many CD-ROM reference products, there is no printed
manual. However, the online help section is very thorough and easy to use.
Graphics, video and sound are first rate (once the installation bugs have
been worked out).
I especially like the opening music with its accompanying
sounds of corks popping and the "glug, glug, glug" of wines being poured.
So, if you are ready for a new way to expand your experience with wine, pour
yourself a glass of your favorite Chablis or Chianti, start up Microsoft Wine
Guide, and explore the wonderful world of wine. It is guaranteed to broaden
your horizons and improve the quality of wine in your glass.
Multimedia Cafe Scorecard
| Product: |
Microsoft Wine Guide |
| Company: |
Microsoft Corporation
|
| Cost: |
$39.95 |
System Requirements:
Multimedia PC with a 386SX or higher processor;
4 MB RAM; 1 MB available hard disk; CD-ROM drive;
and a Super VGA, 256-color (or better) display;
MS-DOS 5.0 or later; Windows 3.1 or higher;
Mouse or pointing device; Audio board
and headphones or speakers.
Breakdown:
Fun Factor 3
Graphics 4
Sound 4
Interface 5
Replayability 3
Overall Score:
Copyright © 1997 InfoMedia, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide.