I know we have a lot of wine lovers here. In the Italian household I grew up in, we drank a lot of Valpolicella, and not much else save for a nice Chianti! My knowledge of wine is fairly basic--i used to work in the cheese business so it was a handy tool--but I'd love to learn more. Does anyone have a book they'd reccomend as being reliable, easy to understand, etc?

i suppose there's a "Wine for Dummies" book out there somewhere.

I've learned a lot from Andrea Zimmer's "Great Wine Made Simple." It's very straightforward and non-pretentious.

Sorry, I was distrated--that would be "unpretentious."

I sell wine part-time and have a shelf of books on the subject, just a tiny fraction of those available. The one that I refer to most often is Hugh Johnson's <i>Pocket Encyclopedia of Wine</i>. Another with a bit more explanation is the <i>New York Times Book of Wine</i> by Terry Robards.

Most wine books are overdone with full page full color pictures of the vineyards and labels etc. One of these is <i>The Joys of Wine</i> by Fadiman and Aaron but it redeems itself handsomely with detailed maps of the wine producing areas and tables describing the vineyards and their products.

thank you for the helpful replies. can't wait to check those books out!

Another correction: &quot;Great Wine Made Simple&quot; is by Andrea Immer (no Z).

I recommend a few pocket books by Hugh Johnson but no substantial texts because everything changes so quickly. Internet resources are wonderful for wine. For instance I just typed in www.vino.com and went to a massive number of links and so on.....There are many great sites and links to discover that place everything Wine into a geographical or grape varietal perspective. Have fun !

Jocelyn_P, dear, have you been drinking the wine, not reading about it? I'm sorry, I was just entertained by your corrections. (Pssst, BTW, you missed one... )

Yes, MammaLove, I caught it, but how pathetic is three posts in a row??? I guess just thinking about wine makes me tipsy!

By the way, do we get to see a trip report?

Heeheeheehee.

Ummm, yes, I'll post my trip report. I can get it ready and post tomorrow (boss will be out of town, LOL!)

FYI: There is a wine book called &quot;Wine for Dummies&quot;. I purchased it about seven years ago as a gag gift for my friend who has a vineyard near Chablis and produces a fine Grand Cru Chablis.

And don't forget the magazine, &quot;The Wine Spectator.&quot; I too, grew up in an Italian household and remember lots of Valpolicella from Verona but mostly the Brolio Chianti and the sweet Asti Spumante.

Hi MissZ,

Try the &quot;Wine Basics&quot; part of
http://www.winespectator.com/Wine/Home
for a good start.

There was a post a couple months ago called French Wine 101 that had lots of good info. I'll top it for you. Cheers!

You might want to check the Other forums section of Fodors as there is a very long running thread called wine-o's-only.

An excellent book on French wines is Frederick Wildman's &quot;A Wine Tour of France.&quot; The material originally ran as a series in Gourmet magazine (in the days when the magazine was still great) and was so well received that it was turned into a book. It's very readable.

Another good book on French wines is &quot;Alexis Lichine's Guide to the Wines and Vinegards of France.&quot; This book includes maps, itineraries, and hotel/restaurant recommendations &quot;for wine tourists.&quot; Yes!