The Complete Idiot's Guide to Wine Basics, 2nd Edition

Customer Reviews

• have a winetasting party  Oct 19, 2004 (49 of 49 found this helpful)

  this is a great book for anyone wanting to grasp the basics of wine, not knowing where to start! I feel like the author doesn't talk down to readers who might not know alot about wine already. She explains things thoroughly, so you get involved in chapters, but it's not overwhelming, esp. because of the helpful summary of key info at the end of each chapter. The setups for the winetastings were really helpful when I had a winetasting party, everyone could participate, have fun, and learn something.

• great first book about wine  Dec 4, 2007 (14 of 14 found this helpful)

  This was my perfect first book on wine, after this one I can now chose and read the others. In particular guided tastings are what I will be looking for when I will dig deeper into any given continent, country or region. Main chapters of this book are the 4 or 5 most known varietals for white and red. This way at your own pace you get to know the basics. This book will also help "red wine only" drinkers to discover the world of whites and, why not, vice-versa. I also liked the fact the author gave excellent suggestions to save money where possible. There is also information on different styles (like sparklings or porto for example), accessories and basic notions (one getting closer to this world would need to know something about how wine is produced). Great hints on organizing guided tastings, purchasing at the stores or reading wine lists at the restaurants.

• A Great Introduction into Wine.  Nov 29, 2008 (4 of 4 found this helpful)

  It is really down-to-earth advice on selecting wine for every occasion and taste. I found it to be invaluable advice to selecting 5 different bottles of Riesling for a wine tasting party. It doesn't give specific wine choices but rather regional wine choices and then allows you to pick a wine from Austria, Australia, Germany, California, etc to contrast and compare the different tastes among the same grapes.
  
  This book breaks down the wines into the Big 9. Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Pinot Grigio, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Syrah, and Zinfandel. It further breaks it into Regional Specialties, Special Styles and creating your own wine tasting party with tasting sheets provided.
  
  It gives good advise without being uppity like some wine connoisseur books are. I really liked this book. I compared it to the "Wine Lover's Dessert Cookbook" and I liked them both really well. This book does give some dessert wine advise but the other book gives really good recipes for desserts that go well with the suggested wines. I combined it with a Pampered Chef party that was a dessert party and then had 5 different wines to drink with the desserts. Everybody had a really good time.
  
  This Wine Basics book is really good and a nice addition to your library.

• Good, But Somewhat Too...  Aug 6, 2009 (2 of 2 found this helpful)

  Good book, but somewhat too technical and detailed for a beginning "Idiot". However, the word complete, as in "The Complete Idiot's Guide..." is accurate. I bought this for a couple of novices, but they found it to be confusing and too much to learn in the beginning, so after a few chapters, they lost interest, due to "overload" and stopped reading. It was much more than the "basics". I would recommend this book for someone with a somewhat fair amount of wine knowledge, looking to add more detailed info to their personal data base. Good reference book on wine.

• A great introduction to wine!  Oct 7, 2008 (2 of 2 found this helpful)

  I am brand-new to wine and wine tasting. This book is a perfect, well-written, easy-to-read introduction to the topic. There is as much information as a reader wants--you can do the basics, such as learning about the different wine varieties, how to taste, and how to host a tasting. If you want to go into the different regions and which location makes the best type of wine, that's here, too! I feel much more wine-savy now!