The Wine Bible

Rating:
Summary: Comprehensive and Complete
Review: Over the past 5 years I found myself enjoying wine with meals quite often. This quickly grew into a love of not only drinking but collecting wine. I now have my own cellar and make frequent trips to wine country throughout the world. In my opinion there is no better book to get you started in understanding the wonderful world of wine. To be sure this book will not take you into great detail on every wine region in the world. There's no way to do that - even in 900+ pages. But what this book will do is expose you to the wide world of wine, touching on every region, sub-regions, AVA's, etc.. Karen writes clearly and explains even complex areas such as Burgundy very well. If you're looking for a book to get you started in the world of wine, this book does it better than any I've seen. It also makes a wonderful reference book even for those that are well versed in wine. I find myself referring to it numerous times throughout the year.

Rating:
Summary: The book to start with
Review: So I'm a beer snob, and learning to be a (cheap) wine snob. This book was given me as a gift by my parents, and it is cool.

It won't tell you everything there is to know about wine; that only comes with further reading and lots of tasting. But it's a spectacular foundation to learning the history and traditions involved, and it does a remarkable job of covering its subject without prejudices. The history of recent (i.e. last couple of hundred years) of wine development is the focus -- if you're looking for information on ancient wines you won't find much of it here, but if you want to know how Chile or Australia became the wine-growing powerhouses they are today, this book will tell you everything you might wish to know.

I've no real complaints with the book. There are big holes in its coverage, but wine is a truly gigantic subject and MacNeil has done a great job covering as much ground as she can -- there's great information on most of the major wine-growing countries, starting with France and Italy and going from there. There's even a narrative of sorts, with heroes like Robert Mondavi and the Gallo Brothers who rebuilt the California wine industry with book knowledge when the traditions had been wiped out by Prohibition, and villains like the phylloxera aphid that nearly destroyed the wine industry worldwide before American botanists saved the day by grafting European vines onto American rootstocks. Ancient traditions in France, Germany, and Italy are placed alongside modern innovation in California, Australia, and South America, showing that either way is an effective method for creating a great wine. Champagne is mentioned alongside the humble Spanish cava and party-loving German sekt. And the great old fortified wines -- port, sherry, madeira, marsala -- get their due in detail most people probably never imagined.

It's an excellent book to just open to a random page and flip through. It's informative without being snobbish, and written for both the casual browser and the serious oenophile. Tradition and modern science sit side-by-side, and the reader is bound to find a few little-known future favorites (Argentinian Malbec, in my case, a powerfully flavorful wine that I tried alongside some pot roast) just waiting in the "interesting cheap stuff" bins at the liquor store. Essentially, with this book there's no excuse for buying the cheap stuff in the box, or simply settling for the easy varietals (unless of course that's what you want). If you want to learn about wine and like to read, get this book and the address of a good liquor store.

Rating:
Summary: Your second wine book
Review: The spine on my worn copy of the Wine Bible is cracked and its pages are dog-eared, even though I think the book has several notable shortcomings. As I write this, I find myself in the unusual position of criticizing the thick volume even though I turn to it for information on a regular basis.

My biggest complaint is that I feel the book doesn't really know what it wants to be. On the one hand, it is a comprehensive reference book that in many areas goes into more depth than other general wine books. But it falls short as a reference book because it lacks the scope of books like The World Atlas of Wine or The Global Encyclopedia of Wine, which cover more up-and-coming wine producing countries, more specific producers and, especially in the case of The World Atlas of Wine, are enhanced by beautiful photographs and maps. Though the Wine Bible is substantial (it weighs in at a hefty 910 pages) its design is more compact than the other books I mentioned, and so might make a better travel companion for someone visiting multiple wine producing regions in a single trip. But the lack of good maps makes a supplemental book necessary.

Additionally, the book can feel like a disjointed collection of articles that ought to have been better integrated before publication. Often, the same information (referring to multiple or confusing names for grape varieties or regions, or quality standards in specific countries) is referred to parenthetically several times, often in quick succession -- something unnecessary, especially given the book's excellent glossary.

But despite these criticisms, I find myself referring to the book repeatedly. Part of the reason for that is author Karen MacNeil's pleasing and unpretentious writing style, which somehow manages to please wine lovers of many different levels of knowledge. Ms. MacNeil's passion for wine comes through in the text and her knowledge of the subject is extremely impressive, with her descriptions often compensating for a lack of quality photos. And though I would like to see more wine producing areas covered by the book, the regions she does address are covered extremely comprehensively. The quality of information is also very even: before travels to these areas I have read the book's sections on South Africa, the Mosel, Loire, Ribera del Duero, Languedoc, as well as everything on my adopted home country, and could not detect any ebb in Ms. Mac Neil's enthusiasm or knowledge.

After some thought, I settled on four stars for this review, despite the complaints I have. The book is just too useful and too skillfully written for fewer stars. The next addition, I feel sure, will earn five on my improvised scale.

Once you have moved beyond the most basic level in wine knowledge, this is an important book to have. If you can buy only one book on the subject, this is not the one I would suggest -- The World Atlas of Wine gets my vote for that honor -- but if you were to limit your collection to two books, then I think this is a serious candidate for that second position. Once you've got that much covered, I'd lean toward a book that focuses on your favorite wine producing region or another specific aspect of the subject, like tasting or wine production.

Rating:
Summary: A Ripe Pick!
Review: The Wine Bible by Karen MacNeil is the perfect introduction to wine for new wine drinkers or a springboard for those wanting to explore deeper into the fascinating world of wines! Ms. MacNeil takes you through the introductory levels of wine making, wine regions and wine procedures (ie temperature, pouring, glasses, storage, etc) in a friendly teacher tone, not a snobby looking down your glass tone so often found in wine books. Her writing style is light, relaxing and friendly throughout the whole book. Each chapter is sprinkled with excellent little tidbits on everything from information on the former owner of a vineyard to what may cause your wine to take on a offensive smell! After the introductory sections, Karen takes you into each of the world's major wine producing regions giving you the skinny on their history, their terrior, their wines and some of the better producers (in the recommendation section). I am stationed in Germany and have tried four of her German wine picks, all of them were perfect! Expand your knowledge of the worlds favorite drink, raise a glass and say "Cheers!" (or Slainte`) to Karen MacNeil's Wine Bible!

Rating:
Summary: A Ripe Pick!
Review: The Wine Bible by Karen MacNeil is the perfect introduction to wine for new wine drinkers or a springboard for those wanting to explore deeper into the fascinating world of wines! Ms. MacNeil takes you through the introductory levels of wine making, wine regions and wine procedures (ie temperature, pouring, glasses, storage, etc) in a friendly teacher tone, not a snobby looking down your glass tone so often found in wine books. Her writing style is light, relaxing and friendly throughout the whole book. Each chapter is sprinkled with excellent little tidbits on everything from information on the former owner of a vineyard to what may cause your wine to take on a offensive smell! After the introductory sections, Karen takes you into each of the world's major wine producing regions giving you the skinny on their history, their terrior, their wines and some of the better producers (in the recommendation section). I am stationed in Germany and have tried four of her German wine picks, all of them were perfect! Expand your knowledge of the worlds favorite drink, raise a glass and say "Cheers!" (or Slainte`) to Karen MacNeil's Wine Bible!

Rating:
Summary: The Wine Bible
Review: There are so many great wines and so little time to taste all the wines of the world. Karen does a fantastic job of boiling down all of the wines to the essence. Or as she puts it wines that deserve our attention. This book is a wealth of information. Read "how to use the book" first. The information about the regions and where to visit and what to taste will make sure this book is a traveling companion for me.
Enjoy your wine journey.

Rating:
Summary: The Wine Bible by MacNeil
Review: This book is an excellent reference for admirers of fine wine.
The author sets forth a series of distinguishing characteristics
which set apart great wine from the imitations. These particulars
are variety, integration, expression and complexity. Wines
evolve from a process of picking, crushing, fermentation,
barreling, filtering and bottling. An experienced wine taster
utilizes a systematic approach consisting of sipping, smelling,
swirling and setting apart outside influences from the
evaluation. The book provides classic wines on a country-by-
country basis. For instance, French Beaujolais wines are
described in the preferred mode of St. Amour or Chenas.
The Cote d'Or is highlighted as the most important wine in the
burgundy family. Important historical data is provided.
i.e. The Swiss are famous for their white wines.
Purchase this work if you plan to entertain a guest list
from all over the world. It is a good investment.

Rating:
Summary: Overwhelmingly Comprehensive
Review: This is a great book for all things wine related. In fact, when I first saw the book, I was somewhat overwhelmed by the comprehesiveness. Don't buy the book thinking you will have an easy to use tool to take with you to the local wine and cheese outlet. But, if interested in becoming more of an "expert" in the art of wine tasting and enjoying, try it out.

Rating:
Summary: The Wine Bible
Review: This is a nice Wine Book, However, it cannot compare to the latest Windows on the World Wine Course. Never the less, this is nice to have, and it can be had at a reasonable price.

Rating:
Summary: Wine Bible
Review: This is a very solid book at least in the opinion of this newcomer to the field of fine wine. There seems to be good coverage for many wine regions around the world, and some good introductory material on the making of wine. The author describes grape types, climate, topography, storage casks, and whatever else may determine the quality and character of wines. The wine industry is not simple, but this book goes to great lengths to make it understandable. Granted it is my first venture into this field, but it appears that this book has something for everyone.