Wine blogs seem to be about a dime a dozen, especially with the rise in opportunities for city dwellers to bottle their own reds and whites. Sommelier Courtney Cochran’s book Hip Tastes: The Fresh Guide to Wine from Viking is a nice change of pace. It has helpful tips on pairing wine with food and selecting good bottles and gadgetry for upcoming holiday get togethers. Cochran, who started taking sommelier classes while studying for her MBA, now runs a California wine events company that was born out of tastings she hosted for her fellow students and wine club members. Her book offers that same peer-friendly encouragement, telling readers to trust their instincts. It’s also hard to argue with the pitch of “no paisley tie-wearing wine auction-attending dilettantes here … just real people getting to know real wine, one great party at a time.”