“A marvelous journey through the mad, manic, seductive subculture of wine and wine lovers.” –Susan Orlean“The Kitchen Confidential of wine.” –Madeline Puckette, Wine Folly"I loved this book.” -Mary Roach Amateur drinker and professional tech reporter Bianca Bosker didn't know much about wine—until she stumbled on an alternate universe where taste reigned supreme, a world of master sommeliers who could, after a single sip, identify the grape a bottle was made from, in what year, and where it was produced, within acres. Where she tasted “wine,” they detected not only complex flavor profiles, but entire histories and geographies. Astounded by their fanatical dedication and seemingly superhuman sensory powers, Bosker abandoned her screen-centric life and set out to discover what drove their obsession, and whether she, too, could become a “cork dork.” Thus begins a year and a half long adventure that takes the reader inside elite tasting groups, exclusive New York City restaurants, a California mass market wine "factory," and even a neuroscientist’s fMRI machine as Bosker attempts to answer the most nagging question of all: what’s the big deal about wine? Counterintuitive, compulsively readable, and hilarious, Cork Dork illuminates how tasting better can help us live better—and will change the way you drink wine forever.Named one of the Best Books of Early 2017 by Brightly