How to Taste: A Guide to Enjoying Wine

by Jancis Robinson

Book Overview

Hailed by Jerry Shriver in USA Today as "the woman who makes the wine world gulp when she speaks," Jancis Robinson created in How to Taste a classic for connoisseurs of all levels and the first introduction of its kind to focus on practical tasting exercises. Now fully revised and updated, Robinson's renowned guide proves once again that learning about wine can be just as engaging as drinking it.

What better way to learn...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1416596658
• ISBN13: 9781416596653
• Release Date: November 2008
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 1.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.9" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

Throw A Wine Tasting Party

Janice Robinson's books are wine gospels. This book is for anyone who wants to taste and enjoy more wine. Don't be intimidated. She is not a wine snob and writes her books for everyone. I threw a wine party after reading this book and passed along some of my new knowledge with my friends. I feel much more confident giving wine as a host/hostess gift now.

Nothing quite like it

There are dozens upon dozens of reference books that explain wine in very technical terms. The Oxford Companion to wine has in depth entries on everything from the making of sparkling wines to polyphenols such as resveratrol. The World Atlas of Wine contains remarkable maps and explanations of all of the mapped regions. These are, of course, essential to anyone wanting to learn about wine. But this transcends all reference guides. This book tells you how to truly enjoy this enchanting beverage *and* teaches you about wine along the way. If you go through this book, and not only read but actually work with the practical tastings, you can not help but come out of it comfortable enough in your own understanding and convictions to "rap" with experienced oenophiles.

Great overall intro to a fine art

This book get 5-starts from me, as it relates to being an introductory "course" on the fine art of tasting wine. All the major grape varietals are described in easy to digest language for the novice, and Jancis' writing style is witty and fun. Like all artistic endeavors -- in order to refine one's art, more information is required. While this is an excellent foothold for learning the art of tasting wine, the true beauty of this book is that it subtly entices one to move forward in a search for more information and guidance. I also recommend "Windows of the World - Complete Wine Course" for a more intermediate step toward gaining more knowledge, and then the ultimates - "The Oxford Companion to Wine" and "The World Atlas of Wine".

A Short Course in Wine--REALLY Short

Jancis Robinson has so many credits I've given up on them. I simply call her the high wine priestess of Britain. That might seem intimidating, but fear not. For all her encyclopedic mind, Robinson delights in passing her knowledge on (as distinct from the kind of person who won't share for fear other people will know something too). Some wine writers like to bully and mystify their readers, but Robinson has her ego under control. She'd rather make new friends for wine than just about anything else except drink the stuff.And so she is the perfect guide for learning to taste: how to focus on and identify--and later describe--the layers of aroma and flavor wines contain; how to remember them so you can compare in the future; how to match them with food; how to get interesting insights from tea cups and a mouthful of toothpaste.I said "really short" and I mean it. In the past two years I've seen a handful of books for wine beginners that ought to have been Robinson gives you about 200 pages--pretty small pages, too, with plenty of excellent and informative illustrations. Moreover, this book isn't necessarily for beginners. Most people been taught how to taste effectively. And that means there are plenty of serious wine amateurs around who know a great deal about wine except how to taste it.This book will open your eyes and reward your taste buds. ------------------------Bill Marsano is a contributing editor of Hemispheres, United Airlines' in-flight magazine, for which he often writes on wines and spirits. One of his Hemispheres articles won him a James Beard medal in 1999.

Refining Your Palate to Find Terrific, Affordable Wines!

If you decide to read only one book about wine tasting, you can happily make it this one. Unless you have tasted many wines, chances are that you have not yet found the 20 wines you would like the most in your price range. If you are like me, you don't want to spend thousands of dollars to locate wines you would like better than what you now drink. What can you do? Read this book, and start tasting along with some adventuresome friends!In the mid-1970s, I was fortunate to work for Heublein which made and imported many fine wines. At dozens of tastings, I was introduced to hundreds of superb wines and had a chance to buy them very inexpensively. From that rich experience, I have been given the opportunity to select wines at many great restaurants and many social occasions. People always marvel at how much I know about wines. Can I let you in on a little secret? If you use the process in How to Taste, you will probably exceed my wine knowledge in a few months. What's the reason? Well, I haven't tasted geographically as widely as this book suggests. I know a great deal about French, German, and California wines but relatively little about those coming from other locales. In fact, I plan to use this remarkable book to guide myself into a broadened palate. Jancis Robinson is a wonderful wine tasting resource. She obviously knows her stuff. She breaks the most complicated issues down into simple, constituent pieces that can be easily grasped. She knows how to give you the experiences you need to find wines you will like better with a minimum of effort and expense. And she writes well, so the words go down easily. Each chapter has theory and practice sections, along with tasting exercises (sometimes of common foods rather than wines). The bulk of the book has separate sections for the major grape varieties and wine types that builds on the basic knowledge she helped you build in the beginning (white -- Gewurztraminer, Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Semillon, Riesling, Chenin Blanc, and the Rhone Whites; red -- Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Gamay, Sirah, Grenache, and the southern French and Italian reds; sparkling; sherry; port). The exercises usually involve "blind" tastings, so you'll need a partner. But that is what makes wine tasting fun! It's an enjoyable social event. Did you know that the average adult can detect over 1000 distinct flavors? I was fascinated by the regional taste influences. Californians often detect "bell pepper" notes in their wines, for example, while others usually do not. Taste is heavily influenced by smell. So you'll learn to taste when you sense is smell is very fine, and to be sure that the room and people are as odor free as possible. The tricks for helping the wine develop its bouquet are detailed here, especially having the right kind of glass with a stem for twirling and sniffing. As to tastes themselves, the most significant are sweetness, sourness, saltiness, and bitterness. You will