The Complete Idiot's Guide to Wine Basics [Paperback]

Tara Q. Thomas (Author)

Book Description

Series: The Complete Idiot's Guide | Publication Date: October 5, 2004

From Chardonnay to Cabernet, discover the world of wine...

The senior editor of Wine & Spirits magazine helps beginners understand everything about wine from the process to popular varieties, from tips for tasting to advice on buying, and more. She also covers world wine regions and offers tips on wine making, storage, etiquette, wine and food pairing, and entertaining.

• Author is a wine expert with contacts throughout the wine world
• The U.S. is the third largest wine-consuming nation in the world and wine consumption in the U.S. has more than doubled in the past 12 years
• Wine books are consistently strong sellers

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Tara Q. Thomas has been a senior editor of Wine & Spirits magazine since 1996. She also serves as the wine editor for the Denver Post where she writes a bi-weekly column. She has served as editor for the 2003 and 2004 Food and Wine guides and has held staff positions at Martha Stewart Living, Vogue, and Kitchen Arts and Letters. She has a degree from the Culinary Institute of America.

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Alpha (October 5, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592572782
• ISBN-13: 978-1592572786
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 7.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,168,652 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

49 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars have a winetasting party, October 18, 2004

By 

P. Bupphavesa (Brooklyn, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Wine Basics (Paperback)

this is a great book for anyone wanting to grasp the basics of wine, not knowing where to start! I feel like the author doesn't talk down to readers who might not know alot about wine already. She explains things thoroughly, so you get involved in chapters, but it's not overwhelming, esp. because of the helpful summary of key info at the end of each chapter. The setups for the winetastings were really helpful when I had a winetasting party, everyone could participate, have fun, and learn something.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great first book about wine, December 4, 2007

By 

B. Simone "in mountain climbing phase" (Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Wine Basics (Paperback)

This was my perfect first book on wine, after this one I can now chose and read the others. In particular guided tastings are what I will be looking for when I will dig deeper into any given continent, country or region. Main chapters of this book are the 4 or 5 most known varietals for white and red. This way at your own pace you get to know the basics. This book will also help "red wine only" drinkers to discover the world of whites and, why not, vice-versa. I also liked the fact the author gave excellent suggestions to save money where possible. There is also information on different styles (like sparklings or porto for example), accessories and basic notions (one getting closer to this world would need to know something about how wine is produced). Great hints on organizing guided tastings, purchasing at the stores or reading wine lists at the restaurants.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Introduction into Wine., November 28, 2008

By 

kiwanissandy "Go Bucks!" (Heart of Ohio) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Wine Basics, 2nd Edition (Mass Market Paperback)

It is really down-to-earth advice on selecting wine for every occasion and taste. I found it to be invaluable advice to selecting 5 different bottles of Riesling for a wine tasting party. It doesn't give specific wine choices but rather regional wine choices and then allows you to pick a wine from Austria, Australia, Germany, California, etc to contrast and compare the different tastes among the same grapes.

This book breaks down the wines into the Big 9. Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Pinot Grigio, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Syrah, and Zinfandel. It further breaks it into Regional Specialties, Special Styles and creating your own wine tasting party with tasting sheets provided.

It gives good advise without being uppity like some wine connoisseur books are. I really liked this book. I compared it to the "Wine Lover's Dessert Cookbook" and I liked them both really well. This book does give some dessert wine advise but the other book gives really good recipes for desserts that go well with the suggested wines. I combined it with a Pampered Chef party that was a dessert party and then had 5 different wines to drink with the desserts. Everybody had a really good time.

This Wine Basics book is really good and a nice addition to your library.