Rating: 
Summary: An excellent wine book
Review: This is an up to date book that educates and enlightens all who have an interest in wine. The book need not be read from front to back. It is well researched and compiled. One item comes through clearly, wine making has changed and improved a great deal in the past 30 years.
Rating:
Summary: Great Gift
Review: This is serioucly the best gift idea ever. I couldnt thinkof what to get people for the holidays and the whoel bottle of wine thing has been so done. So instead I decided to take and old idea and spice it up I bought a cheap little basket this book (which is great) a bottle of wine I found in the book and a set of glasses. Its the cheapest nicest gift I've ever given and I got tons of compliments for the idea.
Rating:
Summary: Great Gift
Review: This is serioucly the best gift idea ever. I couldnt thinkof what to get people for the holidays and the whoel bottle of wine thing has been so done. So instead I decided to take and old idea and spice it up I bought a cheap little basket this book (which is great) a bottle of wine I found in the book and a set of glasses. Its the cheapest nicest gift I've ever given and I got tons of compliments for the idea.
Rating:
Summary: For all who love wine...
Review: Utterly fascinating and comprehensive, The Wine Bible is just the right length to provide even the most discriminating oenophile with all the facts needed to quench his thirst. It is difficult to imagine a better overview of all the wine areas of the world. Certainly there are more scholarly tomes, but MacNeil's ebullient and zestful writing style is utterly charming and never wearying, her descriptions of specific wines so lively you can almost taste them. I wanted to rush out and buy all her recommendations.The layout of the book starts with the basics of how wine is made, what factors make great wine, how to taste, the major grapes and their characters, and other fundamentals. It then proceeds into an extensive look at the countries that produce wine. Each country section breaks down the major wine producing areas within the country, going into great detail to highlight the unique qualities of those areas that bring their wine to life. The country sections also include travel notes, comments about the local food, wineries to visit, and more. At the end of each growing area section, MacNeil includes specific wines of note. This format makes the subject quite approachable, but also leads to the only complaint I have (and it is not enough to take away anything from the book.) Because of the length (900+ pages), the book is written sectionally. Given the scope, MacNeil wrote it in a manner than lends each section to being self-contained. Because of this, when reading several country sections, MacNeil repeats herself many times, often explaining a concept in a later chapter that she had explained earlier. This is done for clarity sake, especially if the book is being used as a reference. For a complete readthrough, though, one can simply skip over what had already been explained previously. If you have a passing knowledge of wine and wish to go to the next level (or simply need an approachable, yet complete reference), I can think of no better place to start than The Wine Bible. MacNeil's love of wine certainly comes through and makes this reference a gripping read, one of the few references you'll find hard to put down.
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