Wine: A Practical Guide to Enjoying Your Selection

Rating:
Summary: Uncorking the Good Stuff...
Review: Jens Priewe has served up an introductory compendium of wine know-how that anyone can appreciate. Learning about wine, everything there is to know about wine, seems like a daunting task to most people, myself included. But before you can become the wine connoisseur to impress someone at a fancy restaurant, you have to know the basics and this book sums them up nicely. Learning about these wine basics has never been easier to do.

Lots of pictures are the key to superior comprehension amongst a large group of people, and I'm very glad the author understands this. This book is filled with page after page of full-color pictures and illustrations of every single concept the author describes. There is plenty of text to boot on each page, laid out in an ascetically pleasing manner with each illustration. The research and expertise the author demonstrates within this book are phenomenal, and what is even better, is he is able to translate it complicated wine information into easy to consume tidbits anyone can understand.

The author holds our hand as he takes us through every aspect of wine, from histories, how to store it, serve it, handle it, pour it, and even enjoy it. The chapters are well laid out, and topics progress logically throughout the book from start to finish. Again, the color photos and illustrations become invaluable as the reader attempts to put the tips and suggestions into real-world application.

Is it true everyone should drink a glass of red wine per day to keep the heart doctor at bay? The author explores this topic, as well as hangover relief help, and certain foods that can help restore the pH-balance to an upset stomach the morning after enjoying your favorite bottle of wine. Types of wine, removing stubborn or broken corks, and even the reasons for those annoying little wine bottle capsules are all covered subjects to edify the curious, along with dozens of other topics.

The book also contains several interesting chapters on various wine glasswares, and what types of wine should and should not be served in a certain kind of glass. The author describes the proper ways to decant (pour) red wines, white wines, and sparkling wines that can be far more difficult and create quite a bit more embarrassment than one might initially think.

Overall, Wine, a Practical Guide to Enjoying Your Selection, is a great book for wine lovers everywhere to enjoy. There is a lot more to wine than meets the eye and it's all good, classy knowledge to know. This book provides an excellent, sometimes elementary foundation, from which to build an excellent repertoire of wine wisdom. The hundreds of full-color photos significantly enhance the book's appeal, readability, and practicality, while the suggestions and tips come from a first-rate and well-known wine connoisseur we can all take seriously.