The Only Wine Book You'll Ever Need Right now

This small book provides a lot of useful information. A handy size to keep out and available whenever questions arise. Good information on food parings, acidity, and tannins.Get more detail about The Only Wine Book You'll Ever Need.

Lowest Price Wine Report 2009

This book is worth its weight in gold for anyone in the wine business, or anyone who has an interest in wine that goes beyond the basics. This annual volume covers the odd Jura & Savoie regional wines of France, British wines, the wines of Luxembourg, and trends in winemaking, wine consumption, and marketing worldwide. It's not for everyone, if you're happy with the wines in your local store and have no need for a larger picture (and this isn't a criticism, wine should be mostly about the drinking of the wine after all) then this is just a mess of information you do not need.

The publisher, DK, has dropped the series after the 2009 Wine Report book. There won't be a 2010 guide, but there's a good chance that someone will pick it up again for 2011. We can hope!Get more detail about Wine Report 2009.

Low Price Vineyard Seasons

I recieved this book as a wedding gift almost 10 years ago, and I really love it. The recipes are fabulous, and the book itself is just beautiful, with poems and ideas for each season. A cookbook you can browse through over and over again. Get more detail about Vineyard Seasons.

Save The Sommelier's Guide to Wine: Everything You Need to Know for Selecting, Serving, and Savoring Wine like the Experts

I knew virtually nothing about wine prior to reading this, but since I wanted to educate myself on wine tasting (and avoid feeling like a total dolt at restaurants), I picked this handy book up to give myself a lesson. I would recommend this book to beginners, or anyone who wants to refresh their knowledge of wine. Or, anyone who's interested in the history of wine, its production, areas of production, etc. For a relatively small volume, this covers those topics pretty thoroughly. I'd imagine that wine experts would find at least half of this book--if not all--pretty tedious, as it covers a lot of beginner concepts.

One thing I appreciated a lot was Smith's inclusion of pronunciation guides. He writes in a clear, effective, unpretentious manner that made it easy to understand and absorb information. The major topics that Smith covers: how to taste, wines by type, label reading, areas of production, how to order/match with food, what to do and what not to do, buying and storing, vintage charts.

I kind of wish there were more pictures (the pages are colored, but there are barely any pictures in here). Overall, a handy quick guide to wine tasting, would definitely recommend, especially as a gift to those starting to acquaint themselves with the world of wine.Get more detail about The Sommelier's Guide to Wine: Everything You Need to Know for Selecting, Serving, and Savoring Wine like the Experts.

Cheapest Wine Cocktails: 50 Stylish Sippers That Show Off Your Reds, Whites, and Roses

Well I am happy to know that wine cocktails does not just mean silly ol' wine spritzers of the country club sec. I am bowled over by the Maibowle. Sorry folks this is all I can write...a Maibowle is calling right now! I suggest you purchase and start drinking!
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Cheap Passion for Pinot: A Journey Through America's Pinot Noir Country

Photographers Robert Holmes and Andrea Johnson along with writer Jordan Mackay have accomplished the masterful task of creating a book that captures the spirit of Pinot Noir. To satiate my own passion for Pinot Noir, I had envisioned doing a similar project for several years but never found the time. Imagine how thrilled I was, then, to discover this beautiful book with breath taking photography of American Pinot Noir winegrowing regions and wine people. The hardcover book is more than a fancy picture book to put out on your coffee table and forget about. It is filled with pinotspeak and valuable information about the one grape that is uniquely capable of creating an almost religious passion among its devotees.

Andrea Johnson is a well-known freelance photographer specializing in wine and travel with many of her pictures featured regularly in prestigious publications. Robert Holmes is a renowned photographer and writer who has illustrated more than forty books, has worked for many of the world's major magazines and twice was named "Travel Photographer of the Year" by the Society of American Travel Writers. Jordan Mackay has been a contributing writer for Wine & Spirits, Food and Wine, Gourmet, and Wine Enthusiast.

Following a foreword by noted wine writer, Eric Asimov, the contents weave a journey through the vineyards and wineries of America, stopping along the way to capture the essence of Pinot Noir. Chapters include: A Perfect Storm of Pinot, Terroir, A Year in the Vineyard, From Grape to Wine, and In the Glass.

For a peak of the book and some of its pages, visit [...]. The book is currently available at multiple wineries in California and Oregon listed on the pinotbook website and the authors are traveling to wineries for book signing events. Passion for Pinot will be available nationwide at bookstores in March of 2009.Get more detail about Passion for Pinot: A Journey Through America's Pinot Noir Country.

Buying The Spirits Of America: A Social History of Alcohol

This book has a perfect balance between in depth reaserch and entertainment. It is like Barbara Holland's "Joy of Drinking" with more in depth research. Burns does an excellent job of illustrating the joys of American spirits throughout our country's history. I found the book very enteraining, especially the passages about the founding fathers and the way they used to drink. It was very helpful with the research I was doing as well. If anyone has an interest in the subject or is curious about the roll alcohol played in our country (its a lot larger than you'd guess), then they should defineitley chose this book over the others. Get more detail about The Spirits Of America: A Social History of Alcohol.

Buy The Picayune's Creole Cookbook

This is a reprint of a book printed in the early 1900's. It is really cool and the couple of recipes I have tried have been super. Some of the recipes have ingredients that are hard to find.Get more detail about The Picayune's Creole Cookbook.

Purchase Pennsylvania Breweries

This is a good book. It has the type of information that should be in a book about Pennsylvania breweries, including some history for each brewery, their location, where you can buy their beer (including some really nice reviews of various brewpubs--Philadelphia included) and reviews of the beers themselves (honest without bringing personal preference into it). Over all a really nice book for the money, and the writer's style is engaging.Get more detail about Pennsylvania Breweries.

Where To Buy Noble Rot: A Bordeaux Wine Revolution

This book covered the latest changes in Bordeaux in the wine business with emphasis on the individual achievement and failures. It is well written and researched. The author was very even in the handling of who has done what to improve or impede further growth of the quality of Bordeaux wines. I enjoyed it immensely and have given copies to friends.Get more detail about Noble Rot: A Bordeaux Wine Revolution.

Shop For A Wine Atlas of the Langhe: The Great Barolo and Barbaresco Vineyards

This book is really a compound of reference material for the serious wine collector, but it is clothed in a history and travel book which is the next best thing to being in this wonderful wine region. Photographs take full advantage of this photogenic region.Get more detail about A Wine Atlas of the Langhe: The Great Barolo and Barbaresco Vineyards.

Essential Winetasting: The Complete Practical Winetasting Course

This is the only practical tasting text on the market. You can read this book, follow the step-by-step tasting exercises and really call yourself an experienced wine taster. Over 15 years ago I bought this book and was thrilled that I wasn't just getting a shopping list of 90+ point wines. This is a textbook. This is an interactive class in the privacy of your own home. This book was a revelation to me. I was a software programmer who loved to cook and this book set me on a path to become a successful member of the wine trade. Five years ago I was privileged enough to attend one of Mr. Schuster's Master Tasting workshops in London and his teaching style was as clear as this text. After a decade of success in the wine trade I still return to this book to polish my tasting and suggest to new students of wine as a solution to mastering their own tasting skills.


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Ancient Wine: The Search for the Origins of Viniculture Review

Patrick McGovern's distinctly archaeological analysis of wine in prehistory documents the remarkable saga of human manipulation of the fermentation process. This book chronicles the evidence of 9,000 years of production not only of wine, but of beer, mead, grog (a delightful mixture of fermented fruit, barley or rice, and honey) and various assorted fruit wines and barley and rice beers. As a professor of archaeology specializing in the art of ancient viniculture at the University of Pennsylvania, McGovern is in a unique position to describe the history of wine-making as it relates to the development of human culture.McGovern outlines how the coalescence of environmental conditions and human technological advancements paved the way for the growing importance of fermentation in early societies. Anyone interested in the historical development of wine-making or the role of fermented beverages in prehistory will certainly be educated and entertained by this book.
Societies as diverse as the Egyptians,Greeks, the Sumerians and the Vikings had Gods who oversaw the production of fermented drinks, indicating that the religious significance of alcohol production and consumption is a common cross-cultural thread in the history of fermentation. Using religious, feasting, drinking and alcohol production evidence from the archaeological record as social indicators of alcohol consumption, McGovern blends modern scientific advances with old-fashioned archaeology to describe how he was able to isolate the evidence of fermentation from ancient residues clinging to the internal surfaces of pottery vessels. The descriptive process of recovering, analyzing and interpreting data is the source of McGovern's potency as a writer.
Ancient Wine: The Search for the Origins of Viniculture places fermented beverages squarely in the middle of ancient culture and helps explain how the novel flavors, medicinal properties and psychoactive effects of alcohol correlate to the development of civilization. Even though this book may occasionally seem over-technical; or may appear to embellish the social and religious significance of wine, it is an excellent reference for scholars, vintners, brewers and people who enjoy learning about fermentation. Get more detail about Ancient Wine: The Search for the Origins of Viniculture.

Juicing for the Health of It (Natural Health Guide) Top Quality

This book reads easy and is great for the novice juicer. Also good information for a person that wants to add juicing to their regular diet. Great recipes and easy to use. Get more detail about Juicing for the Health of It (Natural Health Guide).

Gallo Be Thy Name: The Inside Story of How One Family Rose to Dominate the U.S. Wine Market This instant

There is an interesting story behind the Gallo family and their rise to pre-eminance in the wine world. In theory, it should make for a great book. This books has many of the details but it unfortunately falls short of greatness. It is marred throughout by poor writing and a feeling of amateurishness. It is as if the author can't seem to decide if he is writing a historical account or trying to relate the story in the manner of a crime novel. One feels that both the editor, author, and publisher needed to do a little more research into who their target reading audience is. Once that decision was reached, the book should have been written with that audience in mind. While I found much of the story and the information included quite interesting, the shortcomings in the writing and the lack of focus left me too frustrated to classify this as a book that I truly enjoyed.Get more detail about Gallo Be Thy Name: The Inside Story of How One Family Rose to Dominate the U.S. Wine Market.

Principles and Practices of Winemaking Immediately

I rather like this book, it's a technical tour-de-force of winemaking. And it works well also as a reference.

However, in 2009, I can't really recommend this old, expensive book when the new edition (3rd) of Ronald Jackson's excellent Wine Science is available. Wine Science, Third Edition: Principles and Applications (Food Science and Technology) This is what is used for courses in winemaking today, and is both rigorous and readable. It's also expensive, but with almost 800 pages and a recent (2008) update it doesn't hurt as badly.
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