Kevin Zraly Windows on the World Complete Wine Course: Revised and Expanded Edition - Hardcover

Zraly, Kevin

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1454921064 ISBN 13: 9781454921066

Publisher: Union Square & Co., 2016

Synopsis

With more than three million copies sold, this perennial bestseller by James Beard Lifetime Achievement Award Winner Kevin Zraly is the most popular wine guide on the market. 

“When it comes to beginners’ wine guides, Windows on the World Complete Wine Course is one of the perennial best.” —Wall Street Journal
In the clear, engaging style that has made this comprehensive book a national and international favorite for more than three decades, Kevin Zraly—America's ultimate wine educator and the creator of the Windows on the World Wine School—demystifies every aspect of wine: from grape varieties and their flavors, different types and styles of wines, and how they’re produced, to the latest winemaking developments, how to read a wine label, and the physiology of smell and taste. Covering the world of wine from the renowned reds of Bordeaux and California to the cutting-edge whites of Washington State and New Zealand, this essential volume features lush new photographs, a wealth of enlightening infographics, clear maps of each region, guided tastings, the best 500 wines in the world under $30, and hundreds of labels to help you identify wines worth tasting. Completing this must-have guide are notes on food pairings, frequently asked questions, a directory of resources, and a glossary of select terms. This newly revised and expanded 2017 edition introduces a fresh new interior design, the latest vintages to savor, and much more for beginners and experts alike. The Windows on the World Complete Wine Course will give you all the tools you need to discover and enjoy the perfect wines for you.

About this title

Review:

Quick, what's the correct way to open a wine bottle? Bonus round: what are the 13 grape types permitted in Chateauneuf-du-Pape?

Whatever your score on the above, you're bound to enjoy the Windows on the World Complete Wine Course. Subtitled Millennium Edition, this 14th annual update is again authored by Kevin Zraly, founder and teacher of the Wine School, begun in 1976 as an offshoot of New York's Windows on the World restaurant. On 200 colorful and clutter-free pages full of maps, wine labels, and sidebars full of facts and anecdotes, Zraly acts as your Sherpa through eight classes. Chapters 1 through 3 circumnavigate the white wines of France, the New World, and Germany; 4 through 8 explore the reds of France, California, Iberia, Australia, and South America, concluding with a section on champagne, port, and sherry.

As wine guru, Kevin Zraly is opinionated, knowledgeable, and patient. His skill at talking novice wine devotees off the ledge is especially evident in the chapters on Burgundy and Germany, with their notoriously confusing wine labels. Study Zraly's careful parsing and annotation of a German label and you'll be able to tell the region from the town from the vineyard the next time someone hands you a Mosel-Saar-Ruwer Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Spätlese.

But any book that calls itself a "Complete Wine Course" sets the Barbera pretty high--sometimes too high. Oregon and Washington States share one page while New York State rates two and a half. Certainly a millennium edition could scare up another paragraph for the red-hot Pacific Northwest. And two chapters following the classes--"Creating an Exemplary Restaurant Wine List" and "Award-Winning Wine Lists"--seem little more than padding.

But these are small quibbles about a handsome and approachable volume that will take you from Amarone to Zind-Humbrecht with confidence. Whether you're a true cork dork or someone who doesn't know their Alsace from their elbow, you could certainly do worse than pressing your nose up against these windows on the world. --Tony Mason

From the Back Cover:

"If you have never bought a wine book before, start with this one. If you have a roomful of wine books, get this one anyway. It's a whole new way to look at the subject." -- Frank J. Prial, The New York Times

About this edition

• Publisher: Union Square & Co.
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 1454921064
• ISBN 13: 9781454921066
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 384