The Independent On Sunday

RICHARD EHRLICH, on the other hand, is not nearly so sure about Matt Skinner's Thirsty Work. 'What worries me about the book is that it tries to do something that perhaps can't be done: to give wine the bash it up and bung it in the pot treatment that Jamie Oliver used so successfully for cooking.' And not content with taking a swing at Skinner, Ehrlich continues, 'some problems could have been remedied by more attentive editing such as eliminating the dozens of exclamation marks that litter the pages'. However, Suzy Atkins's Cocktails and Perfect Party Drinks (4.99; Quadrille) gets the thumbs-up, and The Wines of the Napa Valley by Larry Walker (20; Mitchell Beazley) is 'a real treat'. For