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A good wine book

PostPosted: Fri Mar 29, 2013 11:04 am
by Shaji M
I would love to get some suggestions from the forum regarding a good wine book which covers among others- wine growing areas, fundamentals of winemaking and history of the same. I am taking an online course to brush up on my knowledge and thought having a current book would be interesting to browse at the same time. Gracias.
-Shaji

Re: A good wine book

PostPosted: Fri Mar 29, 2013 12:42 pm
by Peter May
How much detail do you need?

Are you studying for personal interest, for career reasons or to take an exam, eg sommelier, WSET, educator etc.

As a matter of interest - what is the online course

My first though was 'World Atlas of Wine' by Johnson and Robinson, as it has all you ask for.

Robinson's 'Oxford Companion to Wine' is a huge reference work and its alphabetical layout should make it easy to answer any queries that arise.

Both above books have had several editions, make sure you get the latest.

Re: A good wine book

PostPosted: Fri Mar 29, 2013 1:16 pm
by Shaji M
Peter May wrote:How much detail do you need?

Are you studying for personal interest, for career reasons or to take an exam, eg sommelier, WSET, educator etc.

As a matter of interest - what is the online course

My first though was 'World Atlas of Wine' by Johnson and Robinson, as it has all you ask for.

Robinson's 'Oxford Companion to Wine' is a huge reference work and its alphabetical layout should make it easy to answer any queries that arise.

Both above books have had several editions, make sure you get the latest.


Thanks Peter. It is a little more than personal interest..more as a personal career in winemaking/educator, not as a sommelier. This is a certificate course offered by the UC Davis Extension. This course is online. I would like to believe that I have some working knowledge of most things wine gained from prior reading as well as trolling on this forum. The latter has been more useful than I sometimes admit! I have learned more about Pinotage from you than any book for instance. Same goes for the bloody pulpit from you-know-who and a host of others. Besides the books you mentioned, Jancis Robinson's wine Course looks interesting as well.
-Shaji

Re: A good wine book

PostPosted: Fri Mar 29, 2013 3:38 pm
by Jon Peterson
In addition to 'World Atlas of Wine' by Johnson and Robinson, and Robinson's 'Oxford Companion to Wine', I have enjoyed Kevin Zraly's 'Windows on the World Complete Wine Course' and, to a lesser extent, Brian K. Julian's 'Sales and Service for the Wine Professional'.

Also, I echo Peter's question: What course?

Re: A good wine book

PostPosted: Fri Mar 29, 2013 3:51 pm
by Shaji M
Jon,
This is a winemaking certificate course offered through UC Davis Extension
-Shaji

Re: A good wine book

PostPosted: Sat Mar 30, 2013 9:38 am
by Jon Peterson
Shaji M wrote:Jon,
This is a winemaking certificate course offered through UC Davis Extension
-Shaji


Thanks for the info! :)

Re: A good wine book

PostPosted: Sat Mar 30, 2013 1:47 pm
by David Creighton
i'd suggest tom stevenson's sothebys encyclopedia of wine.

Re: A good wine book

PostPosted: Sat Mar 30, 2013 3:28 pm
by Steve Slatcher
David Creighton wrote:i'd suggest tom stevenson's sothebys encyclopedia of wine.

I have spotted too many errors in it, and I have no idea how many there are that I have not recognised.
http://www.winenous.co.uk/wp/archives/2420

Re: A good wine book

PostPosted: Thu Apr 04, 2013 9:23 pm
by Richard Fadeley OLD
This is interesting because anytime wine books are mentioned you never see my favorite. If I could only have one book, it would be Wine Lover's Companion by Sharon and Ron Herbst. Sharon is now deceased but the book is on its third edition. Even has pronunciation, which is almost impossible to find anywhere. I also like World Atlas of Wine and Karen McNeil's Wine Bible. But as a quick and accurate reference Wine Lover's Companion is hard to beat.

Re: A good wine book

PostPosted: Fri Apr 05, 2013 12:08 pm
by Shaji M
I got Robinson's The Oxford Companion to Wine. Its an exhaustive tome..almost a wine dictionary with cross references throughout. Although more illustrations wouldnt hurt it, this book would certainly fit my bill. Thanks to all. I will get the World Atlas of wine next week and I look forward to going thorugh it as well.
-Shaji

Re: A good wine book

PostPosted: Sat Apr 06, 2013 9:34 am
by Steve Slatcher
Shaji M wrote:I got Robinson's The Oxford Companion to Wine. Its an exhaustive tome..almost a wine dictionary with cross references throughout. Although more illustrations wouldnt hurt it, this book would certainly fit my bill. Thanks to all. I will get the World Atlas of wine next week and I look forward to going thorugh it as well.
-Shaji

If that is about the amount of wine reading material you are after, I don't think you could do any better than select those two books. As you say, the Companion is almost a dictionary, but some of the larger articles could also work as very readable chapters in a shorter book.