Learning all over again

So..... about 15 years ago I first got pretty serious about wine. Reading a lot about about it, experimenting, finding the right store with good help and selection......I was hell bent for 5-7 years on it. Then I began a series of overseas transfers.... Tokyo, New Delhi and London. For most of the last 12 years I have been away from my wines and my routines. My knowledge has atrophied. I was looking at wines the other day and realized I couldn't remember the differences between Barolo, Barbera, barbaresco, Nebbiolo etc.

I am now living in Chicago and we bought a greystone right downtown. We put a 1400 bottle wine cellar in the basement. Great restaurants and wine shops abound. I want to reignite my learning and appreciation for wine again.

Simple question....is there a book you thought was quite thorough on wines? I think I had a Kevin Zraly book back in the day, maybe Andrea immer or a Jancis book. Which are your favorites? I'm going back to school again!!

[David M. Bueker]

There's so much more on line I would just spend some time exploring. If you really want a book, The World Atlas of Wine is a great resource.

[Robin Garr]

There's so much more on line I would just spend some time exploring. If you really want a book, The World Atlas of Wine is a great resource.

The World Atlas, and Jancis' big Oxford Companion to Wine for browsing and looking stuff up?

[David M. Bueker]

The Wine Bible is pretty good for a general, all-around reference as well.

First and foremost, Oxford Companion to Wine for me - for accuracy and authority. But you have to use you own initiative to use it as a study aid, as it is organised alphabetically.

The World Atlas of Wine is good too, but I am less enthusiastic about it than many - not really sure why.

Don't get suckered in by the infographics in Wine Folly (the book). The text is superficial, and in places wrong, highly questionable or ridiculous. And even from a design point of view the infographics are not nearly as good as you might first think. Try using the wine-food matching ones for example. I really don't understand how it got such a good press.

At that sort of introductory level I would suggest Exploring & Tasting Wine[1] by Berry Bros and Rudd Wine School as the best alternative.

Also avoid the Sotheby's Wine Encyclopedia[1], which is not nearly as accurate and thought-out as a quick look might suggest.

Afraid I did not get on with Wine Bible either - I bought the new edition recently. I found it a bit gushing and condescending, and not entirely rigorous.

Wine Grapes[1] is excellent as a reference for grape varieties.

Incidentally, Wikipedia wine articles have come on in leaps and bounds in the last 10 years or so, and they are worth checking for information. They are often more accurate than many wine books, and if you spot errors you can fix them immediately.

[1] I have reviewed this book on my blog (see sig) if you want to see what I think in more detail. Otherwise, do ask.

[Robin Garr]

Afraid I did not get on with Wine Bible either - I bought the new edition recently. I found it a bit gushing and condescending, and not entirely rigorous.

Concur.

Afraid I did not get on with Wine Bible either - I bought the new edition recently. I found it a bit gushing and condescending, and not entirely rigorous.

Concur.

Heh, And I was there when you didn't get along with it.

[David M. Bueker]

True, The Wine Bible is not the geekiest thing going, but for a general reference that's easy to use...it's sort of the Cal Cab of wine books.

[Robin Garr]

True, The Wine Bible is not the geekiest thing going, but for a general reference that's easy to use...it's sort of the Cal Cab of wine books.

Maybe it has good editors, and maybe Karen has learned by doing, but as Hoke points out, the one time I heard her present, her detailed knowledge would have fallen well short of earning her ... well, any kind of wine certification at all.

[Jenise]

True, The Wine Bible is not the geekiest thing going, but for a general reference that's easy to use...it's sort of the Cal Cab of wine books.

I might have called it pop music where I think John needs jazz. But that's why it's the reference book on the counters at most wine stores--anyone can use it, anyone can understand it. It's just that if you want to know which three grapes are typical in the red wines of Valpolicella it might not have the answer to your question.

I too am a fan of the Wine Atlas because it breaks the wine world down geographically and that makes sense to me. Pour a glass of wine, read about where it's from, imprint the knowledge with flavors--that works. But it's a slow education, and you need a reference work that breaks the wine world down by grape, too.

Karen says she is self-taught, with each fact being personally researched and checked with contacts on the ground in the various regions, as it was the only way to do it when she started. That is a heck of a job, and I must be practically impossible to do these days. I think Tom Stevenson must also have done the bulk of the work for the Sotheby's Encylopedia.

That is in contrast to Jancis' books which are team efforts - a massive team in the case of the Oxford Companion, with Jancis as editor. I think that is the way to go for large wine reference works.

[David M. Bueker]

The first edition of the Oxford Companion was substantially more Jancis than the latest editions.