When the PR firm for Wine for Dummies, 7th edition, approached me to see if I would be interested in reviewing a book about wine, I jumped at the opportunity.
The book, written by Ed McCarthy, certified wine educator, and Mary Ewing-Mulligan, master of wine, gives a great understanding about the variety of grapes and wine styles, pairing wine with food, and how to store, open and pour a class of wine.
The book includes a chapter of wine label lingo and how to decipher a label to know what you’re getting. It even talks about how to manage the presentation when you buy wine at a restaurant and the sommelier presents the bottle to you. What do you do? How do you inspect the cork? What do you do when a small amount is poured into your glass? The book tells all!
Wine for Dummies also takes several chapters to talk about different regions where wine is grown. It discusses how to find and collect wine.
I loved Part 7 of the book which provides some of the top questions about wine like should I join a wine club? And, how do I know if a wine is flawed?
The appendix provides pronunciations along with a glossary. It even has a vintage wine chart from 1996 to 2015. Do you know which year is best for a Cote de Beaune from Burgundy? The book takes different regions and analyzes the top year and top wine.
Wine for Dummies also provides some of the best vintage prior to 1991. Try to get your hands on a 1970 Pomerol, St.-Emillion or Cabernet Sauvignon from Northern California from the years 1951, 1958, 1968, 1970, 1974 or 1978.
For me, I’ll stick with my northern California wines from Napa and Sonoma Valley. But I found this book extremely interesting and worthy of anyone’s bookshelf! I look forward to referring back to it before I buy any more wine!
The book is published by John Wiley & Sons. You can get it on Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble for under $15. It makes a great gift, especially with Valentine’s Day coming up… hint hint…
