Customer Reviews

Wine: An Introduction

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

 

 

Honestly, when it came down to it, I knew pretty much nothing about wine - other than there were a certain few I liked.

Finally, tired of feeling overwhelmed when even considering buying a wine, I decided it was time to learn more about the subject - and this book stood out on the shelf.

It gives a nice variety of information, apparently, everything needed to start heading into the world of wine. There are plenty of descriptions about the different types of grapes, the flavors each has, and where they are grown. There's a great section on tasting wine, including the various flavors that can be detected, and the proper way to do it. There's a large list of all the diferent types of wine - making it obviously clear there's more than just white, red, and blush wines.

It also tells you how to read the label on a bottle - even those not in English - to find the information about where it's grown, what kind of grapes make up the wine, and such.

Thanks to this book, I don't feel quite so lost anymore - but I realize there's a lot more to learn, but this book is like a great guide to help you know what you're looking for now.

If you want a wine book that has great photos this would fit the bill. If you also want a wine book that is very short on substance this is a good choice.

As an introductory text, "Wine: An Introduction" leaves a lot out. As a professional sommelier this was my very first text book and I must say that this book did not cover the basics of wine well at all.

The book only covers the top 6 main varietal grapes in a moderate level beginner of detail. The rest get anything from a sentence to possibly two paragraphs. Very little information about regions, regional styles, vinification, or the industry surrounding wine makes an appearance.

Want to know about grapes? Try buying "Vines, Grapes & Wines". Want to know about regions try "The World Atlas of Wine". Both are availible on Amazon.com. Both are much, much better books at helping you find your bearings in the stormy seas of wine.

This was the assigned text book for the International Sommelier Guild Level 1 course. The material is well organized and concise. It provides a good introduction to wines from the grape, the regions in which they are grown, the wine making process, how to evaluate wine and food pairing. Joanna Simon provides a good place to start for anyone who wants to enjoy the amazing world of wine.

This is one of my favourite books on wine. I like the way the book presents Ms Simon's essays, has lists of useful facts and the pictures - gosh, its got pictures of wine grapes so ripe I'm tempted to eat them. Ms Simon's writing is simple and a joy to read, and for a starter book on wine, this is hard to beat.

Unfortunately, the negative reviews do have a point. It's not that the book is badly organized - the organization is logical and coherent. What went wrong is that the editors at DK gave a table of contents that makes people guess what's in each chapter. Terrible! An index is no substitute for a proper contents page.
A more detailed listing of sub-headings in the table of contents would tell people at a glance what's in the book and where to find it. We shouldn't be made to flip through the book deciphering exactly where was the part that dealt with deciphering wine labels. sigh.

Anyway, a very nice book to have.

I purchased this book because it was published by DK. I have come to love all their books. The present a clear and direct path to get their point across. That did not seem the cae with this book. There was a not a good place to start. Rather it seemed that you had to jump around the book. It contains great information, just not organized the best.

As mentioned by another reviewer, the organization of this book was not ideal. I was disappointed, because usually Simon is a terrific writer. I do like the visual richness of DK books but found their "French Wines" by Robert Joseph to be far superior to this one; wonderful to look at AND to learn from.