Customer Reviews

The Taste of Wine: The Art and Science of Wine Appreciation

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First of all, this is the essential text for anybody serious in developing the skills and the vocabulary to discuss the taste components of wine. Solid reference books on the subject of wine do not come along every year. Last year two titles by Remington Norman (Rhone Renaissance and his second edition of Great Domaines of Burgundy) could be added to that pantheon. But for every serious book like Emile Peynaud's or Remington Norman's, there are dozens regurgitating reviews on a 100 point scale from trade publications. A second edition of this classic text could have been a special event, but instead John Wiley & Sons chose to add a couple of paragraphs of new text and repackage it as a new edition. How could one possibly improve upon the original seminal work? We do not know because this effort seems to have been knocked off in a lazy afternoon. I read most of both and found whole chapters left intact. A true second edition may have incorporated photos (more than the four included) such as those found in the original French Le Gout du Vin. But until then the first English translation is still in print (ISBN0-932664-64-4) at a better price $39.95 vs. $54.95. This is an amazing book, but its new format is a bit disingenuous. Michael Stratton wineguild@aol.co

Prof. Emile Peynaud has revolutionized winemaking practices, initially at Bordeaux and France and, from such fulcral places, in the whole world. Procedures now taken for granted, like production lowering, using only good grapes, cleanliness and extensive use of inox steel, are linked to his heritage. A lifelong teacher of Enology, Peynaud examines, in this book, the scientific foundations of tasting, in a way easily understandable, even for the novice. His writing style is tipically french and quite agreeable. A must for winelovers.

This second edition is little more than a repackaging of the first edition, and a poor one at that. Even in the preface to the second edition, collaborator Jacques Blouin offers no specific examples of updates to the first edition. There is a new chapter, The Interpretation of Tasting Tests, which is somewhat interesting, but the first edition is complete without it. This second edition has only a summarized contents page versus a very detailed version in the first edition. Incidentally, the second edition does not come with the dust jacket pictured. (Twice, I attempted to secure one with a dust jacket, to no avail) It has a blank, solid black front and back cover. To add insult to injury, the second edition is almost four times the price of the first. Buy the first edition.

For those who really want to get into wine on a deeper level, Emile Peynaud is truly one of the great writers and teachers of wine. This book is a must read for anyone who wants to really "get it"!

To read Emile Peynaud is a great honour and luck for everyone involved in wine sphere. I like this professional and pithy book. It's excellent for the deepest understanding wine nature.

Excellent book on wine for the beginning and intermediate sommelier. Very descriptive and an excellent resourse for winetasting terminology and research.

This is a book for those who wish to enhance their wine tasting ability. The text provides the reader with in-depth knowledge about the theory which really help unravel behind the "mysteries" of wine tasting. It is not about finding out aromas in a wine glass. It's much more. It's about penetrating in the soul of wine and building ability to distinguish it!