Bood books about wine

convert

I'm looking to pick up a decent book about wine for a mate of mine. Something along the lines of what to look for in a wine, tasting, good/bad vintages, what to serve with what food, best time to drink a wine, right temperature to serve it, how long to leave a wine breath, etc - basically an advanced beginner's guide, if such a thing exists - so if anybody could recommend a book (and where to buy it), I'd really appreciate it. I'm in Dublin at the weekend, so any suggestions as to where to go would be greatly received.

IrishWhiskeyCha

Hugh Johnson is possibly the top wine critic in the world and he has a fair few books out however you really would need to have a flick through these to see which you think is best. Some books are basically a list of top wines to buy or try which unless your friend is mad into expensive wines may not be the best bet.

However there is also Oz Clarke and he has an interesting book called "Grapes and Wines: A Comprehensive Guide to Varieties and Flavours" the title lets you know exactly what is in the book.

However there is a multitude of wine books out there and if you pop into any Easons you will see what they have and a quick flick through will tell you what they are about. Also if you want a specific book ask at information and they may be able to locate it in another store or if you have the time they will order it for you.

irish_goat

Second hand book shops are good for wine books. I've got this book and it's pretty short and easy to read.

http://www.amazon.com/ES-Things-About-Evening-Standard/dp/074320509X

What I've found though is that unless you have the budget and live near a decent wine shop there's only so much you can learn from any book. i.e. each author will recommend particular brands/regions that are just not available in most parts of Ireland.

Any of the ones in book stores will tell you what food to pair with, temperature etc though/

Molloys Clondalkin

Dont know where you will get them but I use Dumonts Lexicon of wine and Oz Clarkes encyclopedia both pretty much cover all the stops and oz's one has detaild views of the more populsr Vinyards. I also have a couple of cocktail books lying around handy for finding that missing ingredient and other bits and pieces.

whelehanswines

The good news is that there are many excellent books available around town. Hugh Johnson, Oz Clarke have been rightly pointed out as being authourative and reliable sources on all things wine. However, if you are that the very exciting exploration stage into wine, the Dummies for Wine and the KISS Guide to Wine are really very well laid out and will catapult your learning forward incredibly. These books are typically available from all good book shops. I would not get too hung up on vintage guide as most books you will buy the vintages they will be talking about will no longer be readily available and you can always get this information of the web.

Welcome to the wonderful world of wine!

BaZmO*

This is a great book, was given to me as a present a couple of years ago. Very informative.

whelehanswines

Agreed, Andrew Jefford is a very reliable source of wine information and is really at the cutting edge of championing the new and up and coming winemakers. His recent working sabatical in Australia threw up some really positive insights on new and exciting winemakers starting to cause waves over there. If you enjoyed Andrew's book worth seeking put Michael Schuster Essential Winetasting.