Product Description

Hosted by acclaimed wine and food expert Ted Allen (Top Chef Judge), this beautiful DVD series reveals the mysteries of wine. Learn the basics of wine, such as terminology and proper selection. Discover wines that complement different foods and all of the various wine making techniques. Join Ted as he takes the viewer to meet the wine experts, on their vineyards, along the beautiful California Central Coast and Sonoma. Set of 3 DVD's.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #43156 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-08-28
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Box set, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 3
• Running time: 180 minutes

About the Actor
Ted Allen is devoted to making good wine and delicious food accessible to everyone. On the Emmy® Award-winning NBC/Bravo hit Queer Eye, he helped guests and viewers sharpen their cooking and entertaining skills. He is the author of The Food You Want to Eat: 100 Smart, Simple Recipes, a cookbook for beginners that features easy, all-natural recipes. Ted also serves as the spokesman for Robert Mondavi Private Selection wines, is a contributing editor for Esquire Magazine and is a regular judge on Bravo's Top Chef and the Food Network's Iron Chef.

About the Director
UNCORKED: Wine Made Simple is a production of Doc City Productions (DCP) which has a long track record of creating successful programming for major networks such as Discovery Channel, A&E, Court TV, Health Channel, Travel Channel, TLC, PBS, National Geographic, The History Channel and others. Founder Kevin Whelan produced Tales From the Vineyard, a highly successful wine and travel series for Public Television. Whelan also created and developed WINE 101 for Public Television (SCETV), narrated by David Hyde Pierce, a successful series that aired nationwide for more than three years. DCP and SCETV have teamed up again to create more successful television programming with UNCORKED: Wine Made Simple.

Customer Reviews

An Entertaining Introduction to Wine
This is a fantastic introduction to the world of wine. It's divided into six episodes, each covering wine from a different region. Each episode is 30 minutes, so you're not getting a ton of depth here, but that's not really the idea. It's a very broad, relatively simple introduction to wine and the world of wine drinking, and it's just informative enough to be entertaining for both the novice and the afficionado.

The first episode is a general introduction to the world of wine, and would make a great setpiece on its own. It's a brief overview of wine drinkers and producers, and is a fitting gateway into the rest of the series. Later episodes cover the Napa Valley, Sonoma, the Central Coast (of California), and France. I would have liked to see less California and more exploration of old-world wine regions, but that's just personal preference. Spending three hours with Ted talking about California and France is pretty great as it is.

It's not without its pretentious side, but let's be honest, it's a show about wine. Of course it's going to be somewhat pretentious. While most things are explained well, there are sometimes terms or concepts that are tossed about that might seem a little obtuse to the novice oenophile. This was most apparent in the first episode, owing I think to how little time it has to cover so much ground. Later episodes have more room to breathe. The second episode in particular is a lot of fun, giving a great history of the Paris wine tasting that put California on the map.

There's a lot of beautiful imagery and a lot of really great information. If you want an easy way to start learning about wine, or if you already love wine and want to bask in an undemanding journey through California and France, consider picking this up. I guarantee that you'll be anxious to head down to your local wine shop and pick up a few bottles.

An Excellent Overview of Wine
This series is a great intro and overview of wine. For me, it made the seemingly complex world of wine and wine appreciation fun and very accessible. I'm a fan of Ted Allen's from Iron Chef and Queer Eye and he has the right mix of knowledge and humor that really made this a fun and great series. I'm giving it to my friends who love wine or want to learn more...

Worth a taste!
I love wine and wine culture, and this series is terrific. Ted Allen provides a witty and far-from-boring narration. The footage, especially of Napa and France, is beautiful.

Bonus features add even more -- Volume 1 includes a segment with Paul Roberts, Wine Director at the famed French Laundry in Napa about how to pair wine and food.