As always, Zraly organizes his wines by region, from simple to complex, beginning with white wines from France, the U.S., and Germany; he moves on to the red wines of Burgundy and the Rhône, Bordeaux, the U.S., Italy, Australia, Argentina, and Chile; and concludes with champagnes and ports. By following Kevin's order, readers will experience the best wines and the wide diversity of taste, style, region, and country. It's not only a comprehensive and bargain-priced hands-on wine education, but a superb catalog from which to start a wine cellar or find a bottle appropriate for any occasion at any price.
This unequaled volume retains all the invaluable information, fabulous illustration, and gorgeous styling of the previous editions—presented in Zraly's inimitable, irreverent style. It's clearly the wine guide against which all others are judged.
approachable and useful
I was one of those people who knew just enough about wine to get my wallet in trouble but not enough to know WTF I was doing at a winery or at the liquor store. So I picked up this book to learn more. Wow! It's really helped me to learn how to make good choices (like a textbook) rather than to memorize facts (like an encyclopedia).
Don't get me wrong. There is a place on the shelf for the wine encyclopedia, but the place for Windows On the World Complete Wine Course has been on my desk or in my lap.
As a reference is is fairly good but really this should be used as a text for yourself, or perhaps more organized study.
The book includes an introduction that outlines the wine basics that everyone should know and then moves into wines of the world by region, which are the best producers or shippers, and various facts about the grape, weather for particular years, anecdotes, explanation of the best values, etc.
Rather than having chapters, the book is broken up into classes with the idea being that you would learn the things in that class before moving on or jumping around in the book.
Class One covers the White Wines of France.
Class Two covers The Wines of Washington, Oregon, and New York along with The White Wines of California. Then covers American Wine and Winemaking: A Short History.
Class Three covers The White Wines of Germany and Red Grapes of the World.
Class Four covers The Red Wines of Burgundy and the Rhone Valley.
Class Five covers The Red Wines of Bordeaux.
Class Six covers The Red Wines of California.
Class Seven covers Wines of the World: Italy, Spain, Australia, Chile, and Argentina.
Class Eight covers Champagne, Sherry, and Port.
Some additional content includes The Greater World of Wine, The Complete Wine-Tasting Course, The Physiology of Tasting Wine, Matching Wine and Food, Wine Buying Strategies for Your Wine Cellar, Creating an Exemplary Restaurant Wine List, Wine Service and Wine Storage in Restaurants and at Home, and Frequently Asked Questions About Wine.
I'm fairly certain that after studying this book and completing a good amount of tasting that I will be able to take (and pass) some of the lower-level certification courses that exist in the industry. In fact, each chapter has a series of questions, (not all of them have been easy) and a page number where you can find the answer. If that's something you're interested in, you really will want to read this book. The price represents a great value for the content and I think everyone who can read and has an interest in wine will find the information to be both interesting and useful.
Buy Windows on the World Complete Wine Course: 2009 Edition by Kevin Zraly At The Lowest Price!
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