The Bible of Wine Grape Varieties

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Book Review

You're a grown-up now, serious about your wine. You enjoy knowing what wines you like and what you don't. You wanna get serious about grapes? This past October saw the publishing of the bible of wine growing grapes, and it's written by Jancis Robinson, Julia Harding and Dr. José Vouillamoz:
Wine Grapes: A Complete Guide to 1,368 Vine Varieties, Including Their Origins and Flavours. Eric Asimov (New York Times) called it "a masterly work that I know I will return to again and again."

First, let's establish that this book is not child's play. We are talking about a massive, slip-cased tome spanning almost 1,300 pages, and that's not including the charts and illustrations of ampelography (grapevine botany).

This book is a wildly comprehensive guide with individual entries for 1,368 varieties of grapes used in commercial winemaking. Each grape is first described by where it's grown and what its wine tastes like. And as you leaf through this journal, you'll get each grape's complete family history, as well as the grape's real name and pseudonyms (for example, Grenache is fully explored under its Spanish name Garnacha). Along the way you'll pick up a plethora of grape knowledge, such as the fact that Korinthiaki (kohr-een-qyah-kee) is a Greek grape that finds its way into California wines during small vintages, and one you've likely enjoyed countless times (it's a California raisin).

Using cutting-edge DNA analysis, painstaking design and illustration, this volume is indispensable for wine lovers and educators. But with a price tag just north of $100, it's appeal sits with true wine connoisseurs. If you do take the plunge, and I recommend it, don't expect to make it through cover to cover—it's not setup to be a page-turner. But it's a book you'll display proudly in your library and pass along to your children and grandchildren, once they're grown-ups of course.

N.B. if grape botany isn't your cup of tea, consider these other recommended recent releases:

Divine Vintage: Following the Wine Trail from Genesis to the Modern Age by Joel Butler
or

Inventing Wine: A New History of One of the World's Most Ancient Pleasures by Paul Lukacs