Product Description

From the grape to the glass, award-winning wine writer Joanna Simon takes readers through the tantalizing range of styles, grape varieties, and wine-producing regions and offers refreshingly down-to-earth advice on how to buy, taste, serve, and store wine for maximum enjoyment.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1114516 in Books
• Published on: 2006-03-20
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

About the Author
Joanna Simon is an award-winning wine correspondent, a successful author and broadcaster who contributes to several publications worldwide.

Customer Reviews

A Great Place To Start
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.

Great pictures, not so great content
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.

An excellent introduction into the world 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.