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Wine is all about knowledge. If you are drawn toward the world of wine, there are two things you need: a good book and a corkscrew. The more you know, the more you appreciate every new bottle.
With a bit of work, you can prattle on like a sommelier. Maybe even hold your own in a discussion about terroir. Or get into a winemaker’s head and follow her through every step of the winemaking process. From grape to bottle, wine is a fantastic journey to undertake.
I won’t lie; conquering the vast knowledge behind all wine styles and regions is a significant challenge. It’s all about taking your time, and books won’t get you there alone.
You get better with every wine-tasting class and every wine-country visit, one sip at a time. Hitting the books, though, is what separates sommeliers from wine tourists. Each paragraph, picture, and map is as enjoyable as a sip of your favorite wine and brings you closer to your goal.
Here are some of the best wine books to look for and read from start to finish. The pages are drenched in wine expertise.
Best Wine Book For Beginners
Even seasoned professionals and those in the trade enjoy the colorful diagrams and infographics in Wine Folly: The Essential Guide to Wine.
Certified Sommelier and New York Times Bestseller Madeline Puckette is behind this fantastic project, which takes a solemn and in-depth approach to wine knowledge for the inexperienced through state-of-the-art design and smart layouts. The science of wine tasting, wine pairings, and every primary varietal and wine region is dissected to the core in 310 color pages, including 35 maps.
Best Italian Wine Books
Decoding Italian Wine: A Beginner’s Guide to Enjoying the Grapes, Regions, Practices, and Culture of the “Land of Wine” by Ryan Anthony McNally and Andrew Cullen is your go-to introduction for understanding Italian wine.
Start with the Mediterranean country’s native varieties and move on to the most prominent appellations, then sit back for the final chapters about food pairings and Italian wine movies. Educational but also tons of fun, this book takes you to remarkable depths without you even realizing it.
Matt Kramer’s Making Sense of Italian Wine: Discovering Italy’s Greatest Wines and Best Values, by the acclaimed contributor to Wine Spectator, is a real gem for honest reviews and detailed wine profiles for every central wine region from Piedmont to Sicily. Written with a unique “Shopper’s Guide” style, Kramer’s masterpiece makes it easy to understand each wine style’s value and rarity. It will also help you make better decisions when sourcing your Italian vino.
Best Online Wine Book Course
If you are looking for a more practical method of learning about wine and one that offers a professional wine certificate at the end, then this offering may be for you. This wine course is entirely online with dozens of videos and weeks of content; this is the type of gift for the aspiring sommelier—Level One Sommelier Certification from the National Wine School.
Best Natural Wine Book
Natural wines may be controversial, but this book takes a scientific view of the subject.
The book A Natural History of Wine, by Ian Tattersall and Rob DeSalle, an anthropologist and a molecular biologist, takes you on an unexpected journey through everything about wine—from its millennial history to what happens in wine, from the ripening of the grapes to fermentation—all with a meticulous scientific approach and a casual, friendly tone.
This book has all the answers and gives you an understanding of wine beyond compare, from yeast to terroir, and even a chapter about wine’s effects on our bodies.
Best Food and Wine Pairing Books
Our personal favorite is the omnibus beverage and pairing cookbook Corked & Forked. Written by yours truly with help from the whole team here at the Wine School. Published in 2011, it still holds up. It hit the bestsellers list and then sold out. We still have a few signed copies of the 1st Edition.
Moving on. It’s hard to find a more complete book about food and wine pairings than Perfect Pairings: A Master Sommelier’s Practical Advice for Partnering Wine with Food by Evan and Joyce Goldstein.
Evan Goldstein, a restaurant industry veteran, has experienced everything from classic French pairings to new-world fusion cuisine and lesser-known wine styles from all corners of the earth.
The book’s intuitive approach to wine and food pairings from the old and new worlds, along with many examples and wine recommendations, makes it easy to practice the dozens of examples.
Once you devour the book above, read on to another masterpiece from the same author, Daring Pairings: A Master Sommelier Matches Distinctive Wines with Recipes from His Favorite Chefs.
Dig deep into everyday wine pairings and combinations for the most memorable occasions, including wine pairings for the most celebrated restaurant dishes with commentaries from chefs of the category of Dan Barber and Charlie Trotter.
Best Wine Atlas
The one and only World Atlas of Wine, a collaboration between the legendary Hugh Johnson and Jancis Robinson, is the only book you need for detailed insight into every wine region, with the most precise and exquisite maps and brilliant commentaries.
We’re talking about 416 pages covering everything from winemaking to Western Europe’s most obscure wine regions. If you were to memorize this book, you’d know a true master; this is a must-have on every wine student’s bookshelf and one of the essential wine reference books.
What are your favorite Wine Books?
Knowledge is priceless, and wine knowledge is also pleasurable! Build your wine library and move forward in your quest for wine mastery.
There are so many great wine books out there; this is just the peak of the iceberg. Let us know your favorite wine books and share them with the Wine School community.