As President of International Wine Center, an independent wine school in New York City founded in 1982, she conducts challenging wine courses for serious consumers and those in the wine trade . Yet as co-author (with her husband, Ed McCarthy) of Wine For Dummies, published by John Wiley & Sons, she promulgates a humorous, commonsense approach to wine that enables even the most insecure wine drinkers to enjoy wine without intimidation. Mary is the first woman in America to become a Master of Wine, a title that represents the highest level of wine knowledge and proficiency. Qualification as an MW is so selective that only 277 persons are Masters of Wine, including 26 in North America. Mary’s efforts have established International Wine Center as one of the nation’s most important wine schools. It is the U.S. headquarters of the Wine and Spirit Education Trust® (WSET®)—a respected organization whose courses are given in 15 languages and more than 40 countries—and it has offered WSET courses since 1994. These programs offer a solid foundation in wines and spirits, and provide Americans with traditional pre-Master of Wine training. Mary serves as executive director of WSET programs for the U.S. Mary is the long-standing wine columnist of The Daily News in New York City, as well as a columnist for Wine Review Online and two trade publications. She has contributed wine articles to several other publications, including the Los Angeles Times, Martha Stewart Living, Wine Enthusiast and The Wine News. Her accomplishments have been featured in numerous publications, including Food & Wine magazine, The New York Times, The Wine Spectator, Newsday, and Gourmet, and she has made dozens of television appearances. She also frequently judges at major national and international tasting competitions, and lectures to private groups. She is a past President of the Institute of Masters of Wine (North America). She has also served as vice-chair of the Wine Media Guild, and as a director of the Society of Wine Educators. She is the 2009 recipient of the NYIT/ Quarterly Review of Wines Professional Excellence Award. In 2003, she received the European Wine Council’s Distinguished Achievement Award. In 1994 she earned the Peter M. F. Sichel Award as "Wine Educator of the Year." She is listed in the International Who's Who in Wine. Ed McCarthy is a wine writer, author, Certified Wine Educator, and wine consultant. He is co-author (with Mary Ewing-Mulligan) of Wine For Dummies, White Wine For Dummies, Red Wine For Dummies, Wine Buying Companion For Dummies, French Wine For Dummies and Italian Wine For Dummies (John Wiley & Son). Wine For Dummies is one of the largest-selling wine books ever, with nearly I,000,000 copies sold. It has been translated into 20 languages, and nominated for a James Beard award. Ed’s own book, Champagne for Dummies, also was nominated for the James Beard Award as best wine book of the year, as was Italian Wine For Dummies. McCarthy is considered the leading Champagne authority in the U.S. Ed is wine columnist for Nation’s Restaurant News and Contributing Editor of Beverage Media. In addition, his articles appear in the Quarterly Review of Wines, QRW and Decanter. Ed also has a regular wine column in the new on-line wine publication, winereviewonline.com, which is published biweekly. In addition to his writing, McCarthy is a regular guest speaker at wine events. He has appeared often as a guest on radio and television programs across the U.S. He is also a frequent judge at wine competitions in the U.S. and abroad, and travels extensively to the world's wine regions to research new wines. An avid wine collector, he has a climate-controlled wine cellar of more than 3500 bottles.	With the WINE STYLE approach, you don’t have to memorize the details of wine regions and grape varieties or master wine vocabulary to select a good bottle of wine – though if you want to delve that deeply this book offers a great starting place.