The Wine Snob's Dictionary: An Essential Lexicon of Oenological Knowledge

by David Kamp, David Lynch

A nicely structured, lightly acidic addition to the handy Snob’s Dictionary series, decoding the baffling world of winespeak from A to Z.Wine Snob. The very phrase seems redundant, doesn't it? When faced with this snobbiest of snobberies, the civilian wine enthusiast needs the help of savvy translators like David Kamp and David Lynch. Their Wine Snob’s Dictionary delivers witty explication of both old-school oeno-obsessions (What's claret? Who's Michael Broadbent?) and such new-wave terms as "malolactic fermentation" and "fruit bomb." Among the other things Kamp and Lynch the Snob code-term for "aftertaste." (Robert Parker includes the stopwatch-measured length of a wine's finish in his ratings.) an American wine classification that rhymes with "heritage," and should NEVER be pronounced "meri-TAHJ." that elusive quality of vineyard soil that has sommeliers talking of "gunflint," "leather," and "candied fruits"Featuring ripe, luscious, full-bodied illustrations by Snob's Dictionary stalwart Ross MacDonald, The Wine Snob’s Dictionary is as heady and sparkling as a vintage Taittinger, only much less expensive... and much more giggle-inducing. Cheers!

Genres: Wine, Nonfiction, Food, Humor, Reference

146 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 6, 2008

About the author

David Kamp is an author, journalist, lyricist, and humorist. Among his books are the national bestseller The United States of Arugula (Broadway Books, 2006), a chronicle of America’s foodways; the critically lauded Sunny Days (Simon & Schuster, May 2020), a history of the Sesame Street-Mister Rogers era of enlightened children’s television; and, as collaborator, Martin Short’s bestselling memoir, I Must Say (HarperCollins, 2014), Ron Howard and Clint Howard’s joint memoir, The Boys (William Morrow, 2021), and A Fine Line Between Stupid and Clever: The Story of Spinal Tap (Gallery Books, 2025), with Rob Reiner, Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer.

Reviews

[Bryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun mix of snarky and actually informative, plus an entertaining snapshot of the world of 2008, and I enjoyed it very much as a quick, distracting book to read during the fall. I'd be very amused to read an updated version of this, as unlikely as it seems to happen in 2022.

[Edward Laufer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderfully entertaining and informative book about the world of wine, and those who profess to be experts on the best of the wines.

[Mysteryfan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kind of precious. Lots of brief bios of wine writers, vintners, and sellers

[Rhonda · Rating 4 out of 5]

if one likes Ambrose Bierce and wine, (separately, of course!)one could hardly do better than to read this book. It is a wonderful dictionary of people and terms, written with decent accuracy and a sense of the tongue in cheek. I already learned form my uncle that Robert Parker is an ass, but it's fun to learn about how various people have affected the wine trade.

[Benjamin · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a very quick read. It's snarky enough to be entertaining even though you're reading a book in dictionary form. Its lack of snobbery makes it totally accessible and it's in its making fun of the snobbery of oenophilia that it derives its comedy.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Steph gave me this book, and I have learned so much more about wine already. So sadly yes, I am a self proclaimed Wine Snob.