Looking for a book to educate me on wine.

January 3, 2012 5:01 PM

I'd like to find a good book or books to teach me about wine that I can use in conjunction with tasting to learn more about which wines I like and which ones I don't.

Recently, I've been drinking more wine (I've always been a beer person) and I'd like to expand my knowledge of wine more. My fiancee and I thought about taking a tasting class but then realized that for the same price we could just buy a lot of wine and taste it ourselves. However, I'd like some guidance about different wine regions, grapes, fermentation, etc., so I'd like to find a book to go along with the tasting. I've found the beer style guides and books very helpful in knowing what to expect from a particular style of beer and I'd like to get some similar reference points for wine.

posted by pombe to Food & Drink (11 answers total)

I'm pretty sure that I found this book via another ask, but Great Wine Made Simple really helped us. It's a great taste-along-guide, and it offers selections at multiple price points. My husband and I have had great fun inviting couples over for the tastings; everyone is always amazed at how much we learn!
posted by Kronur at 5:41 PM on January 3, 2012

I've worked in and around the wine business my whole career and one of the books I've always thought was approachable, thoughtful and well-written was Kevin Zraly's "Windows on the World" Wine Course book... I also like to think of it as a wonderful homage to NYC, the twin towers and how, in my small opinion, the world needs to embrace wine as an opportunity to better understand connections and culture.
posted by priested at 5:48 PM on January 3, 2012

I was going to suggest the same book Kronur mentioned. I haven't read it, but a friend of mine gave it a very enthusiastic review, and she seemed to have learned a lot from it. I've been meaning to look at it sometime myself.
posted by Orinda at 5:49 PM on January 3, 2012

There is a lot of information to be had online: Robert Parker, Clive Coates and Kermit Lynch offer some.
posted by jet_silver at 5:53 PM on January 3, 2012

I've had good success with an annual called The Wine Trials. (The 2012 edition is due out the end of April.) It scores under-$15 bottles with blind taste tests. I've found the reviews in the series to be spot-on and very informative.
posted by crunchland at 7:13 PM on January 3, 2012

Seconding Great Wines Made Simple. I was part of a wine club of sorts for a year where we used this book as a primary reference. Also, we used The Wine Club, which was also a down-to-earth resource that included food recommendations that would pair well with the wine.
posted by superfille at 7:15 PM on January 3, 2012

Oldman's Guide to Outsmarting Wine is another great and non-intimidating place to start.
posted by lulu68 at 8:56 PM on January 3, 2012

I have a brand-spanking-new copy of this, A Good Nose & Great Legs by Robert Geddes, which was given to me by a local winemaker late last year. I would be pleased to send it to you if you mefi-mail me your address.
posted by malibustacey9999 at 9:02 PM on January 3, 2012

When I was first entering the wine trade, I found Red and White: Wine Made Simple by Australian wine writer Max Allen really informative and approachable.
posted by hot soup girl at 9:13 PM on January 3, 2012

Seconding Great Wine Made Simple. The taste-alongs were particularly helpful for us.
posted by joe vrrr at 7:35 AM on January 4, 2012

I have recommended Great Wine Made Simple here before, and I will again.
posted by dfan at 9:33 AM on January 4, 2012