A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to get a mystery package in the mail. It was a book called Red Wine that was written by three wine experts. Mike DeSimone and Jeff Jenssen are with Wine Enthusiast and are known as the World Wine Guys. Kevin Zraly ran the Windows on the World Wine School and has been described as America’s most famous and entertaining wine teacher. What a treat! In this article, we’ll explore the book Red Wine.
About the Book Red Wine
On the front cover of the book, it says “The comprehensive guide to the 50 essential varieties & styles.”
They cover all the favorites, including Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Sangiovese, and Syrah in as Amazon says “fascinating, eye-opening detail”. They also look at “little-known gems” such as Baco Noir, Xinomavro, and Zweigelt.
In the introduction, they explain how red wine grapes evolved and spread, how red wine is made, and how the winemaking process influences the taste of the final wine.
Quoting Amazon: “Peppered with engaging facts and figures, each chapter profiles one variety or style, featuring comprehensive at-a-glance information that provides color and tasting notes, what to expect in the glass, suggested food pairings, and recommended wines at a variety of price points from bargain to splurge. In-depth essays offer capsule histories of each grape or style, including their origins, typical characteristics, popularity, and other notable countries that produce them. Winemakers and other industry experts appear in their own words alongside gorgeous photography that brings the regions, vineyards, grapes, and wines to vivid life.”
They cover 41 varieties (grapes) and nine styles and blends.
How I’m Going to Use This Book
For starters, this beautiful book is sitting on my coffee table. It’s the first coffee-table book I’ve had in a long time, and it’s quite beautiful.
So, I typically love to read a book cover to cover. But I quickly saw that this book will be a great reference book both for buying unusual wines and for learning about them.
Of the 41 wines they highlight, I only know 27 of them. So I have a lot of tasting and learning to do. Do you know these grapes? Agiorgitiko, Baco Noir, Blaufrankisch, Bogazkere, Feteasca Neagra, Mavrud, Mission, Okuzgozu, Plavac Mali, Saperavi, Teran, Xinomavro and Zweigelt. I can’t wait to start trying them.
Of the nine styles and blends, I know all but one of them, but I’m looking forward to learning about Bikaver.
If you’ve read the book Red Wine, I’d love to hear your thoughts. I’d also love to hear if you know any of the grapes I don’t know about and what you think of them.
Cheers and Happy Red Wine Tasting!
1 comment
What an enticing review! I can’t wait to hear more about the varieties of red wine that are new to you. Please keep us apprised of your discoveries!