France (Top 10 Wines) [Paperback]

Vincent Gasnier (Author)

Book Description

Series: Top 10 Wines | Publication Date: September 18, 2006

Burgundy or Bordeaux? What's the best champagne for a celebration? Go from novice to knowledgeable with this easy-to-use, pocket-sized guide. Top 10 lists provide instant, practical advice to help you make selections - from the 10 best wines for laying down, to the greatest reds, tastiest whites, organics and dessert wines, or the 10 best-kept secrets. Drink in advice on tipples from reading wine labels, to buying, storing, and matching wine to food. Plus, there's a comprehensive look at the major winegrowing areas, from Bordeaux to Burgundy and the Rhone Valley to Champagne to the best producers and wine styles in each area. Discover the top wines of today with this handy guide.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Vincent Gasnier is the youngest ever 'Master Sommelier' (the most senior drinks qualification awarded only 140 times), and recipient of the Ruinar Sommelier of the Year and the Dom Perignon Award, he runs his own consultancy, judges wine competitions and makes frequent TV appearances. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: DK ADULT (September 18, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0756622530
• ISBN-13: 978-0756622534
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,235,530 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Overview of the Top French Wines from France's Appelations, February 24, 2008

By 

Mark Vincent (Framingham, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: France (Top 10 Wines) (Paperback)

Want a good, fast easy read to learn about the top wineries and wines from each appellation in France in 140 pages or so? This is the book for you.

Vincent Gasnier is a talented sommelier with a knack for writing about wines in a very interesting and compelling manner, making for great reading. He's written a series of 4 brief, but informative overview books, covering the top wines from France, Italy, Australia and New Zealand, and the United States. All are easy reading, ideal for reading in short bursts of time as well as informative and enjoyable.

This book on French wines offers a brief historical overview of wines in France as well as how French wine law and the Appellation Controllee (AOC) systems works. Then, it presents a brief section on each appellation. Each section offers a brief overview of a French wine region, including a general description of the region, the winemakers, wineries and top wines.

While the chapter on Bordeaux will be a bit less insightful as even many neophytes might recognize Latour, Mouton-Rothschild and Margaux as among the most expensive and well-known wines in the world, it does a very good job of highlighting the top wines from all of France's regions. The top 10 for a region can take the form of multiple top 10 lists such as Top 10 Wines for Storing, Top 10 Fabulous Desert Wines, Top 10 Magnificent Red Bordeaux, Top 10 Superb Celebration Wines, Top 10 Refreshing Rose Wines, Top 10 Best Kept Secrets in French Wines, in addition to the Top 10 wines in each appellation.

It also features brief (2 to 4 page) sections on Wine and Food Matching, Buying and Storing Wine, Wine Tasting, and one on Wines Styles, a popular approach gaining in usage that breaks wines into category profiles. For example, white wines are classified into the following categories: 1). crisp dry light bodied; aromatic to flowery, dry to medium-sweet; tangy or steely medium bodied; and full bodied, rich flavored. Grapes typically make wines in one of these categories (although chardonnay grapes, for example, may overlap two categories depending on the winemaking style employed). Generally someone who likes a certain style of wine, might appreciate the appeal of other grapes making wines in this same style or category. This section also lists the French wines that would fall into each of these categories.

I highly recommend this book for anyone seeking a basic overview of French wines. The author has a nice ability to explore a topic briefly, yet still provide valuable information. Gasnier is one of my favorite wine authors. If there were an award for adequately conveying a useful overview of French Wines - along with wine information in general - in the least number of pages, Gasnier would surely win it. I am pretty knowledgeable about wine and still found this book very well done and interesting. Highly recommended, as is the entire 4 book series.

Mark Vincent