We have a passion for wine and for reading which we’ve combined into the single activity of reviews of wine books. While our joy of reading has always been prevalent, our love of wine didn’t fully mature until we lived in France. There we discovered the pleasure that wine can bring and soon found ourselves craving more knowledge. We began innocently enough with a weekend trip to Burgundy and the purchase of the book “The Wines of Burgundy” by Clive Coates. That single trip opened our eyes to the pleasure wine could bring; both physically and mentally. Mr. Coates writing only deepened our respect for the producers and his writing style inspired us to learn more. From that point we became captivated with the story of wine and soon found ourselves soaking up every piece of knowledge we possibly could.
Over the years we’ve read hundreds of books on wine; from great encyclopedic tomes to short and entertaining stories. We read the writings of established figures in the wine world and also the new voices with a fresh and interesting perspective. As we’ve read about the different regions of the wine world our curiosity drove us to visit them personally. We’ve travelled extensively in many of the major wine regions in the US, France, Germany, and Italy; spending hours with the local vintners and learning their craft. Many times we specifically plan a trip based on what we’ve read; whether it be to taste a wine raved about or to meet a quirky personality. We always have interesting stories when we return which we hope will enrich our reviews.
As we became immersed in the wine world we found ourselves wanting a more formal education and have been studying with the Wine & Spirits Education trust. Here we’ve been able to deepen and confirm our knowledge thus becoming accredited sommeliers. This led us to try our own hand at wine-making working with a small Chateau in the Bordeaux area and making our own personal cuvee. This hands on experience has helped bring many of the principles we’ve read about and studied to life. It’s also given us a renewed sense of respect and awe for how the vintners are able to produce such amazing things from a few grapes.
As we made our way through all the wine literature we could find we searched for a comprehensive source that could help us find the best books and keep an eye on what was new. We never found a source that gave us reviews on all wine books in one place that was easy to navigate and always up to date. This is what led us to developing WineBookReview.com. We hope you will find our reviews helpful as you search for a good wine book to enjoy with a nice glass of wine.