wine books and magazines

I ordered 5 books from Half.com (great deal!!!!) 3 of which include:

The Wine Bible, Oldman's Guide... and Wines of the World.

I was at Barnes and Noble last night looking through wine magazines.

What are must have books and which is the best wine magazine in your opinion?

On an annual basis we get Tom Stevenson's "Wine Report", and Andrea Immer (Robinson's) "Wine Buying Guide for Everyone." Our two favorite periodicals are "Wine & Spirites" and "Wine News." We still subscribe to "Wine Spectator", but I don't know why, and will probably drop it later this year.

For me, Hugh Johnsons annual pocket wine guide at ~ $15 is dollar for dollar (IMO) the best buy in the market. It's stacked to the rafters with useful info and is a good place to start if trying a new region and you want a half-decent producers wine to start with. The abbreviations can be a bit severe, but apart from that there's little I can fault in it.

The other book I have got great mileage out of is Michael Schusters "Essential Winetasting" which is a very straightforward look at wines, winetasting, note-taking and general wine appreciation. After taking it out of the library twice, I ended up buying a copy. There are other winetasting books around, but his style really appealed to me.

Apart from those, a good "Wine atlas" or reference book on Grapes/varieties (Clarke and Rand do a good one) can be handy and there's a few good versions of these around. They're good if you see (say) a Bourgogne Aligote and wonder what on earth it is!

I've got plenty of other wine books, but these three provide a very good baseline from which to venture out.

One final book that might be of interest is the Penin guide to Spanish Wine. It's an annual overview of current release wines, but also contains an excellent overview on wines, viticulture, wine-tasting etc. in the 1st 150 or so pages IIRC.

regards

Ian

and which is the best wine magazine in your opinion?

My list of good wine magazines is thus:




regards

Ian

I was wondering about those buying guide. They seem like they would be helpful. Thanks for all the input. You all are very helpful.

You might like to look at http://www.librarything.com/catalog.php?view=RobertRoss - this is a list of wine books owned by Robert Ross, and suggested to him for inclusion by members of this board.

For me, my most indispensible wine books are

The Oxford Companion to Wine - (editor) Robinson Jancis

Vines, Grapes and Wines: The Wine Drinker's Guide to Grape Varieties - Jancis Robinson

John Platter South African Wines - annual guide edited by Philip van Zyl

Grapes and Wines: An Encyclopedia of Grape Varieties - Oz Clarke & Margaret Rand

My own wine books are listed at http://www.librarything.com/catalog.php?view=pmwb

I don't subscribe to any of the magazines, since I can always browse them relatively quickly in my many trips to the bookstore.

As for books, I have found The Wine Bible and Oldman's Guide to Outsmarting Wine to be my two favorites. I also have three of the 'Dummies' books, including France, Italy and Champagne. They are all easy and fun to read. I also enjoyed Andrea Immer Robinson's first book. Next on my list is Kermit Lynch's Adventures on the Wine Route.

Also, I would recommend Therry Thiese's online catalogues, available at http://www.skurnikwines.com/msw/theise_catalogs.html in .pdf format. They cover Austria, Germany and Champagne.

My favorite books deal with winemaking, so I'm not sure if they'd interest you, but knowing the aspects of how grapes are grown and turned into wine can be a great boon to one's appreciation of wines. Even if you never plan to make wine, "Grapes Into Wine" by Phillip Wagner is a great read. The American Wine Society publishes a magazine that each member receives as part of their annual dues. It covers many diverse topics related to wine - tours of wine regions, pairings, recipes, varietal focus, vintage ratings for various areas as well as winemaking and grape growing articles.

Of course, there are a gazillion books about myriad facets of wine. I concur with Howie that Wagners' is a great book for winemaking at home.

Bespaloff, Hugh Johnson, the Oxford Companion by Jancis Robinson--are only three of a number of important writers and writings for gaining an understanding and appreciation of wine. From there, the field becomes an absolute joy.

In other words, read as many as you can get your hands on.

[Jenise]

Ronica,

First of all, let me welcome you to the Board. I've been away so haven't participated in any of your threads yet, but I certainly enjoyed reading through them all over the last few days--excited, thirsty newcomers like you remind us all of why we got into wine (and never left!).

As to your question about books and magazines, here's a link to a thread on the old WLDG that I think you will find entertaining and informative: http://www.myspeakerscorner.com/forum/index.phtml?fn=1&tid=63002&mid=541250.

The question was "What was your first wine book and do you still use it?" The answers to the second part of the question should help you decide what kind of reference material will make particular sense to you. Lots of us found a Wine Atlas particularly useful--in addition to Hugh Johnson's book (as you'll read, my first wine book), Larousse has published a similar compendium that might even be more useful, especially to someone who makes WLDG their cyber wine home since the regulars here take a far more international and open minded approach to wine than anywhere else on the net. That is, here you'll read about lots of fascinating, offbeat wines from small communes all over the globe, immensely satisfying and worthy wines that the Points People overlook. So you'll need a book that can answer the question "Where is Rasteau?" or that will tell you why just about all they make in Tavel is rose. The geographically-oriented Larousse book will answer those questions quickly--whereas the populist Wine Bible might not even cover those areas. My husband bought it for me a year or so ago and at first I thought it was redundant to my collection and perhaps not detailed enough, but in fact I use it all the time.

Anyway, welcome to the board.

The first wine book I bought was Larousse (almost 15 years ago). Never bought another one since, but have rather opted to read ones from the local library. By the way, I still peruse through the old Larrouse since it is amusing to see how much the geographic wine map has changed since. Also, it helps to know what hasn't.

[Jenise]

Also, it helps to know what hasn't.

Excellent point, Shaji. That's why I still use my Hugh Johnson Atlas, in combination with the new Larousse I kind of have everything covered.

I'm interested in good (i.e. cheap!) sources for books.

I've not come across half.com before, but tend to use both abebooks.com and amazon.com mostly. I though bookkoob.com would be a book equivalent to pricerunner/kelkoo etc. but I don't think it's ever brought back the best price.

Any other good book websites (preferably international)?

regards

Ian

The other book I have got great mileage out of is Michael Schusters "Essential Winetasting" which is a very straightforward look at wines, winetasting, note-taking and general wine appreciation. After taking it out of the library twice, I ended up buying a copy. There are other winetasting books around, but his style really appealed to me.
Ian

We have had and used Michael Schuster’s book for many years. We have received some criticism for using some of his definitions with attribution from his Glossary of Tasting Terms in the back of the book. For example he defines the term ‘racy’ as, "A combination of energy and excitement in the mouth allied to finesse, a noticeably thoroughbred feel." To some, Americans in particular, this seems a bit pompous.

The other book I have got great mileage out of is Michael Schusters "Essential Winetasting" which is a very straightforward look at wines, winetasting, note-taking and general wine appreciation. After taking it out of the library twice, I ended up buying a copy. There are other winetasting books around, but his style really appealed to me.
Ian

We have had and used Michael Schuster’s book for many years. We have received some criticism for using some of his definitions with attribution from his Glossary of Tasting Terms in the back of the book. For example he defines the term ‘racy’ as, "A combination of energy and excitement in the mouth allied to finesse, a noticeably thoroughbred feel." To some, Americans in particular, this seems a bit pompous.

IMO if you feel comfortable with it, then use it.

I think the true examples of pomposity are where something more obscure is used in preference to something simpler and more appropriate.

Not all accusations of pomposity are justified and are sometimes used as a defense mechanism, rather than using an honest "Could you explain what you mean by racy?"

regards

Ian

I have found Oz Clarke's Pocket Book one I open almost every day... it is short, lists grape varietals, regions, etc. that I can look up quickly when I open a bottle and want to check out all the details on the label.

For buying wine, I must say I carefully read the wine boards (including eRobertParker and WCWN) and The Wine Advocate.... and especially depend on the advice of friends.

Thanks Ian,

I will continue to refer to Michael frequently. All I meant to convey is that quoting him freely on this side of pond, can occasionally get one hamered.

Cheers, Carl

I ordered 5 books from Half.com (great deal!!!!) 3 of which include:

The Wine Bible, Oldman's Guide... and Wines of the World.

I was at Barnes and Noble last night looking through wine magazines.

What are must have books and which is the best wine magazine in your opinion?

Hello Ronica,

My initiatory thrust into this endless journey of discovery a.k.a. -- the wine lovers world -- began when i bought a "Wine & Spirits" magazine (about 4 years ago) and read it. Although i didn't understand half the terms at that time used in the mag. it was still tremendously intriguing stuff. What got me the most was how i began to realize how HUGE the wine industry is. Which brought me to my next quest-- figuring out what in the world those terms meant that
i read. For any beginner in wine (not that I'm saying you are a beginner; this is just a generalized recommendation) I would recommend 100% of the time to buy the book "Wine for Dummies" by Mary Ewwing-Mulligan. Not an insult, just an honest, funny, down to earth, very informative beginners guide that's amazingly comprehensive and readable. Since then, I've acquired Andrea Immer's works-- good stuff as well esp. if you like FOOD and wine. Barnes and Noble publishes an absolutely HUGE book called "Wine" that's quite comprehensive relative to old world wine/winemakers etc. with some new world stuff thrown in. I would also recommend going to your local library and search for any and everything "wine". This gives you a chance to preview a book or DVD without actually buying it if it looks like something you'd like to add to your wine info library at home. I believe food and wine together is the ultimate Nirvana so I buy magazines relative to that interest which include-- "Food & Wine", "Gourmet", "Bon Appetit" etc. These magazines have elements of focus that are relative to food alone, wine alone, and food and wine together-- great stuff.

The very best 3-word recommendation i live by with relation to wine is-
"Explore, explore, explore!!"

i've been reading books and mags for nearly 40 years and the book i refer to most often is tom stevensons sotheby's encyclopedia of wine. the mag a read most is decanter; but i also read professional wine mags that wouldn't be as interesting to consumers.

Thanks for all of your input. I have a list of books I will check out. Half.com is a great source, although, Amazon has better reviews.

Just thought I'd let you all know that from a newbie's point of view the book "Oldman's Guide to Outsmarting Wine" was great! Very easy to read. He broke the information down into quick chapters and the thing I liked most of all was all the pronunciation help. I feel like I have a very good basic understanding of the wine world now.

I'm getting into the Wine Bible next.

Wine Spectator
Wine Enthusiast
Decantur (English magazine, about $8 in the US)

Numerous online pubs including Parker and I personally love anything by Jancis Robinson and Hugh Johnson - The World Atlas of Wine is a MUST


Hope this helps

Numerous online pubs including Parker and I personally love anything by Jancis Robinson and Hugh Johnson - The World Atlas of Wine is a MUST

Yes, I think understanding is built up well by tomes such as The World Atlas of Wine. I see such books as a way to convey a classic overview. From there individual tastes might diverge, as people move their interest into other areas and start reading more specialised books such as "The New France"; "Biodynamics" or "The wines of the Northern Rhone".

I caught a re-run of Italy uncorked (presented by HRH Jancis) today on the telly - covering Piemonte which, considering we're planning a trip there soon, was a good reminder of what we liked on our first visit there. I really must try the Barolo Chinato.

regards

Ian