Extreme Wine: Searching the World for the Best, the Worst, the Outrageously Cheap, the Insanely Overpriced, and the Undiscovered

Veseth (Wine Wars), who blogs at the Wine Economist, takes readers on a whirlwind tour of the world's wines in the titular superlatives. Readers may be familiar with French wines, but get ready to explore Canada's Icewine (made from grapes frozen to 17 degrees Fahrenheit). These highly concentrated wines (popular in Asia) sell for prices ranging from $50 to $500. Veseth discusses how Prohibition (1920–33) impacted the wine industry (most wineries went out of business) as well as loopholes in the Volstead Act that allowed four million gallons of wine to be legally produced in 1925. The most expensive wine should be no surprise to readers: Bordeaux 2009. What's the worst wine? Veseth writes, "That's easy: look down!" Wines can be judged by their prices, with the cheaper wines located at the bottom of the wine shelves. Veseth asserts that celebrity wines such as those made by Yao Ming, Martha Stewart, and Paul Newman don't necessarily harm the "real wine" industry and, in fact, encourage wine drinkers to try new varieties.