The Wine Avenger

By Willie Gluckstern

Book Overview

Irreverent, informative, and controversial, The Wine Avenger is indispensable guide to wine for beginners and enthusiasts alike.

A longtime champion of the victimized wine consumer, Willie Gluckstern debunks the myths and misinformation surrounding the (allegedly) complex subject of wine. His straightforward advice includes:

*The wines that go BEST with food--and why.
*A cure for label worship: "There are just as many lousy $60 bottles as $3.99 bottles."
*How to avoid getting ripped off in stores and restaurants.
*How to choose a great wine shop: "Do they know where Italy is?"
*Dreary housekeeping tips, such as storage, decanting, saving opened wine, and "that sulfite thing."

Plus, the straight poop on oak, "the MSG of wine," a few well-chosen words for greedy restaurants and retailers ("Those bastards!"), and an unprecedented expose of mass-market Champagne, including how to find the good stuff by cracking the secret label code.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0684822571
• ISBN13: 9780684822570
• Release Date: June 1998
• Publisher: Atria Books
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.2" x 7.3"

Customer Reviews

Best and most easy to understand book and very witty!

This little book is a gem and a real bargain. In a small space it manages to cover the whole gamut of the wine world including European wines. It also cuts through the jargan and delivers what you really need to know in a straightforward and very witty manner. I own a number of books on wine and if I had to choose between this book and keeping all of the other ones, I would keep this ONE book! It's really that good. It has saved me money in terms of buying good inexpesive wines, increased my enjoyment of wine with food by learning how to pair food and wine correctly. It also gave me the knowledge I needed to discuss wine intelligently with anyone. This author is NOT out to be politically correct or to make friends in the wine industry. I think the same is true of the restuarant industry because he is very blunt in his criticisms, particularly of over-priced restaurant wine. His use of words along these lines accounts for much of the humor in his writing. If you know of anyone who has wine as a hobby they will enjoy reading this. If you are intimidated by the world of wine, you wouldn't be after you finish this book. It will also save you money and open up new worlds in terms of differnt types of wine from all over the world.

A must read if you love wine and laughter

This is a great book! It's a well-organized quick and fun read which I've returned to many times when selecting the small number of wines (typically 10 or less) we keep on hand in our home. While Willie's writing is laugh-out-loud funny, he really does give clear and useful advice, and I feel like we haven't made a bad selection since stumbling onto his book. My favorite advice of his is this about merlot: "Get a life!" I recommend this book to everyone I know who enjoys wine. You won't regret buying it.

A Great Book

If you buy one book about wine, this should probably be it. It will open your eyes. Gluckstern cuts through all the nonsense that has congealed around wine, and explains what's really going on. It's also a very amusing book.

Buy This Wine Book First

Among the jungle of wine books available, Gluckstern's stands alone. In a clear, trusting and friendly tone, he demystifies wine, debunks many myths about it, and provides the confidence and know-how to go out and explore wine on your own.After reading this, you'll rarely get taken again by paid-off, know-nothing wine shop sales clerks, and you'll be able to navigate smoothly around restaurant wine lists. This book is long overdue and Gluckstern deserves some sort of public service award.

Excellent quick intro to wine

A well written intro to wine that you can breeze through in a couple of hours. Gluckstern is very opinionated, to say the least! His basic philosophy on wine seems to be summed up as 1) it should go well with food 2) Instead of paying through the nose and drinking heavily oaked wines, save money and eat the oak chips directly. While this book hardly makes me an expert, it did give me a basic idea of what to look for when choosing a wine for food, and how to ignore all the hype surrounding wine. A superb book...