Our Favorite Resources
Books
Selecting just a few books was difficult. We ended up selecting the ones we most often referred to when we began to get more serious about the subject of wine and we stuck just to those pertaining to wine, in general, (rather than, for example, French, North American, South African wines, in specific).
The Wine Bible
As the title implies, this is a must for the beginning oenophile. Highly readable, very interesting and full of information, charts, and maps, this book reviews just about everything you might want to know about wine as well as fairly detailed coverage (considering it is only one book) of the major wine producing areas of the world.
How to Taste
This is a book that provides hands-on-the-glass exercises that really help the reader learn how to taste and what to taste for in wines. The exercises are very helpful in teaching how to distinguish specific tastes and smells in wine. Along the way, the reader acquires a lot more information, too. It is not a book to pick and choose parts to read; it works best when you start at the beginning and work your way through.
Vines, Grapes and Wines by Jancis Robinson: The Wine Drinker’s Guide to Grape Varieties 1986
This book, as the title suggests, focuses on the grape, providing all the information you would want to know about the general subject of grapes as well as the specific varieties. The illustrations of the grape varieties are lovely.
Concise Wine Companion
Organized much like a dictionary, this book has the answer to every wine-related question we have ever had.
The Oxford Companion to Wine
An important reference as your library continues to grow. (In the meantime, the aforementioned Robinson resource will do just fine.)
Wine Spectator’s Essentials of Wine: A Guide to the Basics
"Just the basics, please" in a well organized, easily readable, and very informative--but portable--book.
The Wall Street Journal Guide to Wine: New and Improved
This highly engaging collection of short pieces on the popular topics found in their regular Wall Street Journal column offers lots of practical and interesting information and warms your heart along the way.
Wine for Every Day and Every Occasion: Red, White and Bubbly to Celebrate the Joy of Living
Another collection of short pieces on wine by Gaiter and Brecher and, like the aforementioned book by the same authors, this one is also both very informative and highly readable. It is organized around the inclusion of wine in celebrations, an unusual approach, perhaps, for a serious book, but it works very well. The writing flows like a Château Lafite-Rothchild with a finish that lingers.
Wine for Dummies
This book, as the title suggests, focuses on the grape, providing all the information you would want to know about the general subject of grapes as well as the specific varieties. The illustrations of the grape varieties are lovely.
Fear of Wine: An Introductory Guide to the Grape
A light-hearted easy read with a surprising amount of information.
Periodicals
Food and Wine
This attractive monthly magazine has lots of recipes, wine reviews, food and wine pairings, and more.
Wine Spectator
This informative magazine is full of up-to-date news about wines and wine trends around the globe. Often included are pieces about food and wine.
Web Sites
www.foodandwine.com
This site is made for the food- and wine-obsessed. It's full of interesting and useful information on that subject.
www.winespectator.com
This site is made for those who want to stay abreast of news involving anything to do with wine.
www.jancisrobinson.com
This site has a tremendous amount of information, some very esoteric and clearly geared toward those who already know a lot about wine, and some more basic for the novice. The academic resources that are available upon joining are exceptionally helpful (e.g., online access to Robinson's The Oxford Companion to Wine). The orientation is British, but the globe is definitely covered.
www.grottocellars.com
Choose from a large variety of wine racks in various fine woods or metal.
