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Wine Taster's Guide: Drink and Learn with 30 Wine Tastings
Uncork your understanding of wine and develop your palate with 30 tasting lessons
Ever wish you were the one to confidently grab the wine list and make a fantastic choice for the table? Wine Taster's Guide is your step-by-step manual to understanding why different wines taste the way they do through 30 tastings. You'll learn how grape varieties, wine-making processes, and regional styles impact the wine you drink.
Find out how aging can affect the final flavor of a wine. Discover why swirling the wine in your glass will have a huge impact on what you smell. Before you know it, you'll be drinking and discussing wine like a sommelier at a winery in the French countryside.
The Wine Taster's Guide
Learning everything there is to know about wine has never been more fun and easy than with the Wine Taster's Guide .
Ever wish you were the one to confidently grab the wine list and make a fantastic choice for the table? Wine Taster's Guide is your step-by-step manual to understanding why different wines taste the way they do through 30 tastings. You'll learn how grape varieties, wine-making processes, and regional styles impact the wine you drink.
Find out how aging can affect the final flavor of a wine. Discover why swirling the wine in your glass will have a huge impact on what you smell. Before you know it, you'll be drinking and discussing wine like a sommelier at a winery in the French countryside.
The Wine Taster's Guide
Learning everything there is to know about wine has never been more fun and easy than with the Wine Taster's Guide .
196 pages, Paperback
Published July 21, 2020
12 people are currently reading
13 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 1, 2020
One of the ways to tell that you've spent too much time thinking about wine is that you find yourself including the word "oenophile" in casual conversation. The truth of the matter is, I've considered myself an oenophile for a long time, but there's always more to learn. This book provides a guide to the rich yet often confusing world of wine that's geared toward and totally accessible to the complete (or near-complete) beginner, yet has little nuggets of information that will excite even those of us who've been tasting wine for quite some time.
I found myself learning the most new information in the chapter on wine regions. Though I've tasted wine from most (not quite all) of the regions discussed, I found the background information on how the regions' climate affects the wine to be quite illuminating. As I read, I found myself contemplating hosting some regional tastings (perhaps beginning with a couple of the tastings suggested by the author, about which read more below). Beginners will particularly thank the author for including a page for each of the major regions describing how to read wine labels from the region in question. Even those of us who have been enjoying and studying wine (or other drinks; I've noticed many of the same problems in the world of whisky) for quite some time can easily be confused by the various regulatory standards that govern what winemakers can (or can't or should or shouldn't or must) put on their labels. There's remarkably little consistency between countries, and when you add language barriers to the mix, the novice could be forgiven for feeling completely unable to read a label at all! The guides in this book are far from complete, but provide enough information to get most consumers through the wine shop experience, which is a major highlight of the book.
I also particularly enjoyed a chapter on the grape varieties. Beginners will find the brief descriptions of each grape and its associated flavor possibilities quite useful as they learn to identify the various notes in the bottles they select. Usefully, the author also provides recommendations for further exploration. For instance, if you enjoy Riesling, try Gewurztraminer. This will help the beginner rapidly develop a sense of what they do and don't like in the wide world of wine.
A chapter on hosting tastings provides a brief yet still useful guide to all the basics you need to know before buying your bottles and inviting your friends over. However, while the bulk of the information is quite handy, I must emphatically disagree with the author's assertion that you can get by with only one type of wine glass. While his analysis of the scientific literature on the subject is correct (namely, that the kind of glass you use does affect the wine, but it's usually quite subtle), and his opinion that much of the brouhaha over wine glasses seems to be driven by people trying to sell more glasses (or people pretentiously making a show of their own collections) is also probably true, the simple fact of the matter is, the glass DOES matter. It may not matter a lot, but it does matter. I join the author in thinking that most people don't need a different glass for every variety of grape, but I would strongly suggest you should at least have separate glasses for red, white, sparkling, and dessert wines.
Speaking of tastings, one of the major selling points of this book is the inclusion of 30 pre-selected tastings. I think that's a brilliant idea. What better way could one learn about tannins, for instance, than tasting a handful of wines ranging from low to high tannin? In fact, that's exactly how the author approaches the subject, with a tasting entitled "Tannins: A Wine Structure Primer." I haven't yet gone through all of the tastings (with thirty of them averaging about five bottles each, it's going to take me a while to try them all out), but I appreciate the thoughtfulness with which they've been assembled. Most of the selections appear to be relatively inexpensive. didn't check the price on every bottle, but based on a random cross section, they seem to average around $10 to $20. Similarly, I found that of the bottles I checked, most appeared to be readily available in one of my local wine shops. Of course, your experience may vary as both prices and availability can vary regionally, but it seems like the author has done an admirable job with his selections.
I do wish the tasting notes were a bit more detailed, to help guide the reader a little more through what they're supposed to be experiencing and detecting with each bottle. The author has written a short paragraph about each, but just a few more notes would have been quite useful, I think. And on a personal note, though admittedly many will disagree, I wish the author had dedicated a little more attention to fortified wines in general and to sherry in particular.
Overall, though, I found this to be a useful guide. Beginners to wine will find it more accessible than many such books, and it was a pleasure to read, despite not being as encyclopedic as some other books on the subject, and despite a few points where I find myself in disagreement with the author's conclusions.
I found myself learning the most new information in the chapter on wine regions. Though I've tasted wine from most (not quite all) of the regions discussed, I found the background information on how the regions' climate affects the wine to be quite illuminating. As I read, I found myself contemplating hosting some regional tastings (perhaps beginning with a couple of the tastings suggested by the author, about which read more below). Beginners will particularly thank the author for including a page for each of the major regions describing how to read wine labels from the region in question. Even those of us who have been enjoying and studying wine (or other drinks; I've noticed many of the same problems in the world of whisky) for quite some time can easily be confused by the various regulatory standards that govern what winemakers can (or can't or should or shouldn't or must) put on their labels. There's remarkably little consistency between countries, and when you add language barriers to the mix, the novice could be forgiven for feeling completely unable to read a label at all! The guides in this book are far from complete, but provide enough information to get most consumers through the wine shop experience, which is a major highlight of the book.
I also particularly enjoyed a chapter on the grape varieties. Beginners will find the brief descriptions of each grape and its associated flavor possibilities quite useful as they learn to identify the various notes in the bottles they select. Usefully, the author also provides recommendations for further exploration. For instance, if you enjoy Riesling, try Gewurztraminer. This will help the beginner rapidly develop a sense of what they do and don't like in the wide world of wine.
A chapter on hosting tastings provides a brief yet still useful guide to all the basics you need to know before buying your bottles and inviting your friends over. However, while the bulk of the information is quite handy, I must emphatically disagree with the author's assertion that you can get by with only one type of wine glass. While his analysis of the scientific literature on the subject is correct (namely, that the kind of glass you use does affect the wine, but it's usually quite subtle), and his opinion that much of the brouhaha over wine glasses seems to be driven by people trying to sell more glasses (or people pretentiously making a show of their own collections) is also probably true, the simple fact of the matter is, the glass DOES matter. It may not matter a lot, but it does matter. I join the author in thinking that most people don't need a different glass for every variety of grape, but I would strongly suggest you should at least have separate glasses for red, white, sparkling, and dessert wines.
Speaking of tastings, one of the major selling points of this book is the inclusion of 30 pre-selected tastings. I think that's a brilliant idea. What better way could one learn about tannins, for instance, than tasting a handful of wines ranging from low to high tannin? In fact, that's exactly how the author approaches the subject, with a tasting entitled "Tannins: A Wine Structure Primer." I haven't yet gone through all of the tastings (with thirty of them averaging about five bottles each, it's going to take me a while to try them all out), but I appreciate the thoughtfulness with which they've been assembled. Most of the selections appear to be relatively inexpensive. didn't check the price on every bottle, but based on a random cross section, they seem to average around $10 to $20. Similarly, I found that of the bottles I checked, most appeared to be readily available in one of my local wine shops. Of course, your experience may vary as both prices and availability can vary regionally, but it seems like the author has done an admirable job with his selections.
I do wish the tasting notes were a bit more detailed, to help guide the reader a little more through what they're supposed to be experiencing and detecting with each bottle. The author has written a short paragraph about each, but just a few more notes would have been quite useful, I think. And on a personal note, though admittedly many will disagree, I wish the author had dedicated a little more attention to fortified wines in general and to sherry in particular.
Overall, though, I found this to be a useful guide. Beginners to wine will find it more accessible than many such books, and it was a pleasure to read, despite not being as encyclopedic as some other books on the subject, and despite a few points where I find myself in disagreement with the author's conclusions.
July 9, 2020
I'm one of the many people who enjoys wine but doesn't know a lot about it. For those interested in becoming more knowledgeable about wine, this book is full of information about all aspects of wine.
Some of the topics covered are how to properly taste a wine and what to look for, the different varieties of grapes and how they affect the taste and texture of a wine, the winemaking process including variations which impact the product, and the world's major winemaking countries including how to read labels from other countries.
There are 30 wine tastings throughout the book (nice homework!!) which are themed to show how a certain aspect (grape variety, growing region, or winemaking style) impacts the wine's flavor. It also tells you how to plan your own tastings, how to pair wine with food and how to pair wine with cheeses.
One of the things I liked the best about the book was understanding why I might prefer certain types of wines over others and the "If you like this type of wine, you might enjoy trying..." suggestions.
My thanks to Rockridge Press which allowed me to read a digital copy of this book with no strings attached. This review is entirely voluntary and reflects my opinions.
Some of the topics covered are how to properly taste a wine and what to look for, the different varieties of grapes and how they affect the taste and texture of a wine, the winemaking process including variations which impact the product, and the world's major winemaking countries including how to read labels from other countries.
There are 30 wine tastings throughout the book (nice homework!!) which are themed to show how a certain aspect (grape variety, growing region, or winemaking style) impacts the wine's flavor. It also tells you how to plan your own tastings, how to pair wine with food and how to pair wine with cheeses.
One of the things I liked the best about the book was understanding why I might prefer certain types of wines over others and the "If you like this type of wine, you might enjoy trying..." suggestions.
My thanks to Rockridge Press which allowed me to read a digital copy of this book with no strings attached. This review is entirely voluntary and reflects my opinions.
July 21, 2020
I received a copy of this book through the Amazon Vine program in exchange for an honest review.
This was a surprisingly thorough book!
It breaks down wine tastings by steps and what each step adds to the tasting. There are pictures and lots of wine suggestions based on location, taste, and type. There's information on the wine making process and how wines are different or defined.
There's also a breakdown of wines by country and regions within a country which is pretty cool. The guide includes how to decode labels from each location and what to expect.
Some of the wine suggestions are a little specific, for example one list is wines under $10 but depending on where you live and what taxes are like the wines aren't actually under $10. Overall this is an informative book on how to select wines, what to look for, and even how to do your own tastings.
This was a surprisingly thorough book!
It breaks down wine tastings by steps and what each step adds to the tasting. There are pictures and lots of wine suggestions based on location, taste, and type. There's information on the wine making process and how wines are different or defined.
There's also a breakdown of wines by country and regions within a country which is pretty cool. The guide includes how to decode labels from each location and what to expect.
Some of the wine suggestions are a little specific, for example one list is wines under $10 but depending on where you live and what taxes are like the wines aren't actually under $10. Overall this is an informative book on how to select wines, what to look for, and even how to do your own tastings.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews