Whatever ...

I'm really looking forward to checking out the upcoming wine book by Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl, the estimable Minnesota Monthly food writer. "Drink This: 473 Answers to Your Most Impolite Questions About Wine" hits the streets on Nov. 24, but I hope to have a review copy before that.

Grumdahl has a wall full of well-deserved James Beard Awards from her days at City Pages, and her writing is always incisive and insightful. Sounds like the book will be a great primer for novices and have plenty of great material (how rating points really work, interviews with Robert Parker and Thomas Keller) for more advanced imbibers.

But I was not able to stifle a chuckle when I got a press release about a Grumdahl appearance at Magers & Quinn on Dec. 4. It included some of the touts for the book; the first one:

"Most wine books have left me feeling like I am bringing a knife to a swordfight, completely underprepared. Not this one. 'Drink This' is what I've been waiting for. Finally, a must-have book for the vino-challenged! For over a decade I have relied on Dara Grumdahl's insight and common sense wisdom regarding all matters related to food and wine, and now luckily, so can everyone else with this helpful, funny and accessible guide to determining your favorite wines."

The blurb's author? Andrew Zimmern, who hasn't had a drop of wine or any other alcoholic beverage since going to rehab in 1992. That's an immeasurably significant accomplishment, and so I hesitate to even try to have fun with this.

OK, I can't resist, even though Andrew and I have been friends since I profiled him three years ago -- and he at one point said that 'if wine didn't [give people a buzz], no one would drink it."