Customer Reviews

Discovering Wine

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm a beginner. When I received "Discovering Wine" by Joanna Simon as a gift, I felt intimidated. Would it be stuffy or over my head?

Its strength is in the simple presentation of the facts. The chapters are clearly titled, like "Matching food with wine" and "Ways to store your wine." The writing is clean, though it comes across slightly elitist (ex: choosing 'wend' instead of 'wind,' noting a certain country produces a 'credible' variety of wine). It is balanced by an encyclopedic style, providing insight into the basics of wine appreciation.

Many countries are highlighted for their vineyards and wines. Learn which wines are made where, and how the process is distinguished from country to country.

The pictures are sharp, beautiful and informative. You'll see terraces of Germany, hills of Tuscany, and the mountains of Peru in sheer splendor and relevance.

Especially useful for me was the lexicon of tasting terms, a brief lesson on wine tasting and what to look for, and a discussion (with perfect pictures) on which glasses and decanters to use.

The weakest aspect of the book was the chapter on matching food and wine, but the weakness was not in the content, but in the brevity. Ten pages should have been 20.

I fully recommend "Discovering Wine" by Joanna Simon as a first book.

Anthony Trendl

Overall, this was a nice introduction to wine. However, it was obviously written in the early nineties, so the good year/bad year tips on many of the white wines that were not meant to age for ten years are kind of useless today (For some wines, 1987 may have been a good year if you drank it in 1991, but in 2001 it might taste a little closer to vinegar than you prefer.) But if you learn enough to know that the book you are reading is outdated, then you must have learned something. Three stars.

The book does a good job of briefing novice and experienced wine drinkers. I like the section on regions and explanations of varietals. Great coffee table book to educate and get friends interested in wines.

I thought that all the pictures were very helpful. There is a lot of background infomation on the countries that make wine. The reading is positively refreshing and easily read.

Unfortunately, as an amatuer wine connoiseur I wished that they would have something a little more tangible. For example I like to drink zinfandel, but there are many different companies that make zinfandel. Some are good and some are bad. I was hoping to get a list of some of the more well liked as well as less liked brand names. That way I could have more of an idea what professional wine-tasters look for. Instead of thinking that my second rate 10$ bottle of wine is the same as some 50$ bottle of wine.

This is a really nice book, to get you started in wine appreciation.

I also bought a Perfect Sommelier, because I wanted to taste the wine as soon as I bought it, instead of waiting years for it to be cellared. Use Google to search for it.

The book really helped in locating some of the many varieties of wine that are available today. I love the 'Dummy' book too!