I Taste Red: The Science of Tasting Wine

by Jamie Goode

I Taste Red is the first book of its kind to address and relate all the different sensory and psychological factors that shape our experience of tasting wine. Award-winning author Jamie Goode explores how our sensory system, psychology, philosophy, and flavor chemistry all play a central part in our perception and enjoyment of wine. He uses case studies, grounded in practice, to demonstrate his theory and to illuminate his conclusions about how language and sensory output help us construct our recognition and interpretation of flavor. He examines whether wine tasting as a skill is objective or subjective and the implications of this distinction for wine experts.

Delving deep into the science of wine but bringing in the influences of psychology, language, and philosophy, this book is a must-read for all lovers of wine.

Genres: Wine, Nonfiction

224 pages, Hardcover

Published September 27, 2016

Reviews

[Jon Packer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Despite the rest of this review, the first half of the book has some really great information, and anyone that is casually interested in tasting anything analytically (I personally taste beer and whisky, rarely wine) should read it.

There's about 10 pages of super interesting take away here, surrounded by a great pile of philosophical warbling, academic prose and misplaced sidenotes & illustrations.

The first half of the book summarises the science, which generally points to tasting being all context and preference. Shortly after that, the author begins to subtly argue for the importance of professional wine tasters (his own profession, coincidentally). I recommend reading to this point, and quitting there. There is little substance after, just long-winded mental gymnastics and philosophy-referencing.

You should know: despite the author's claim at the start of the book, this book reads like the worst kind of textbook. It's filled with academic jargon, terse summarisations (that are invariably immediately explained in the next or same sentence, invalidating them entirely), and deliberately obscure language. If this is your deal, you might like (the first half) a lot more than I did.

[Ted · Rating 3 out of 5]

Science-heavy but an interesting look at the tasting of wine. Would recommend for those interested in the wine trade, a casual observer or wine drinker may lose interest quickly.

[Lynnee Argabright · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was so excited to learn more about wine and improve my tasting perceptiveness. This is written by a successful wine critic and published by a university press and discusses the actual science behind why we taste what we taste. Except that it didn't meet my expectations. It had great chapter topics and header topics but then talked fluff. It went off topic. It repeated itself. It tried to explain the science by breaking it down but then ended up making it so simplified that it didn't say anything. I basically just skipped the chapter on consciousness and free will because it didn't relate the psychology of that at all to wine. It essentially spent the latter half talking about the wine critic career. That's not what I came here to learn. The chapter on identifying the right language for tasting notes could have been so useful, but it talks about how wine experts write more specific notes than novices (obviously). Goode wrote what he knows (the role of a wine critic); so I'm going to see how a different author background will portray enology.

That being said, the book manufacturing is absolutely beautiful. It has a nice matte cover, pretty and approachable illustrations, gorgeous interior design, sewn-in paper signatures, and lovely thick stock paper.

[Nick Stengel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book did not give me the crystal ball answer of how to pass my Master of Wine exams, and for that I am disappointed. That being said, if you are a serious wine geek, there are two authors: Jamie Goode and Ben Lewin that you must follow and buy every book they write. An excellent book that stays erudite without slipping into trivia.