Five Wine Books to Give This Holiday Season

Thankfully "Cork Dork" is not recommended. While like the Curates Egg (it was good in parts) it was so obviously contrived as to be almost unreadable in parts. I never quite finished it, but I am still left wondering about many things that would have been interesting to learn - most importantly how high-end restaurants maintain the quality of wines-by-the-glass (if they even try). I understand Champagne makers are now investing in English vineyards (global warming shifting the climate). Will we soon be referring to the importance of "earth"? Anyone else think Biodynamics is the Homeopathy of wine?

I long for one more book about wine that hasn’t yet been written. Where’s the book that discusses and rates organic wine versus the chemically treated varieties? That book would include a discussion of my own very famous wine club which refuses to even make the distinction between them, and has yet to offer a selection of labeled organics. I am a person who cares about such matters. Not having such a book, has caused me to overwhelmingly favor very specific country's offerings, US wines not included, because I know only in very general terms who chooses to spray Roundup between the vine rows just prior to harvest, and who does not.

Agree with Dan W that Comiskey’s “American Rhône” is an outstanding history that should have been included.

The maps included in the Peter Liem slipcased package are full color, full size reproductions of the Larmat maps, which were originally printed in limited runs. The maps are much sought-after and quite expensive if you can find one of the original printings. The $80 list price for the package is quite modest if you consider the value of the maps alone; and, as with most things, the book is available heavily discounted from a number of the usual online retail sources. Liem has now written two standout books. His earlier 'Sherry, Manzanilla & Montilla' is one of the best books on wine of the decade.

The bothersome question is whether organically grown wine is indeed any better than its conventionally grown counterparts. One would doubt that such distinctions existed in old Rome and its wine producing colonies, from the Middle East to the Southeast of England. My view that the hype of all "organically grown" is the drive of leftist radicals, militant vegans, and politically correct to force the humankind to follow their views. Quo vadis munde?

I'd like to say that the Wine Revolution front covered the topic well, but in fact there were serious errors. One, the book says SO2 is used in organic vineyards. That would be a surprise to most viticulturists. (It's used in the winery to preserve the wine in the bottle.) Two, it gets the Demeter standard in the U.S. wrong for sulfite levels in the wine, saying Biodynamically grown wines in the U.S. all have lower sulfite levels than organic standards - not true. Demeter has two standards - one is identical to the Made with Organic Grapes standard in defining sulfite levels. Thirdly the book makes very little attempt to define the differences between conventional and organic and Biodynamic wine grape growing. In the U.S. conventional growers typically use 700,000 pounds of the carcinogen glyphosate a year on wine grape vines. Finally, the biggest error in my opinion is that the book fails to include the best and most prominent producers in the U.S. with organic vines - Calera, Qupe, Ridge, Sea Smoke, Tablas Creek. We'll have to wait awhile longer for the definitive guide to these wines, at least the ones in the U.S.

Organically grown wine deserves a great book but alas Wine Revolution is not the book we need. For starters, it's riddled with errors - like SO2 is used in vineyards? That would be news to most viticulturists. (SO2 is used in the winery). And it quite incorrectly states that Demeter USA's wine standards require lower sulfite levels than US organically grown wines. (Not true - there are two Demeter wine standards and one is the exact same sulfite max as Made with Organic Grapes standard in US - 100 ppm). Aside from that - and the most grievous error in my humble opinion - is the fact that it's missing most of the very best organically grown wines. Ridge is definitely one of the best and has been a leader, converting its more than 200 acres of vineyards to organic certification in both Sonoma County and its Monte Bello estate. Instead we get a featurette on Chris Howell of Cain, whose vineyard I visited with his Biodynamic viticulture consultant a few years back. It was full of sick vines and many blocks had been farmed conventionally. The Central Coast is seriously underrepresented. One of the great estates in the U.S. - Tablas Creek - is also not mentioned. It's also certified organic and Biodynamic. Our best Syrahs - those from Qupe in Edna Valley - are not included. And one of the best Pinots - Sea Smoke - is not mentioned. We have many great organically grown wines that represent terroir magnificently. We'll have to wait for the truly definitive book to come.

I cannot wait to read these. I really enjoyed reading, and would recommend, American Rhone by Patrick Comiskey.

My father told me years ago that the " best wine is the wine you like best". And I think he was right. However I like to try new types of wine and to see what's out there.

Your article seems to have been very carefully researched. I have sent it on to a dozen or more friends and family members for their perusal. It has been my opinion that outstanding wines from around the world can be purchased under $20. In some cases that would include those wines that possibly could be rated in the mid 90 rating category. Since the three retailers mentioned in the article have been in existence I have been a regular purchaser. The article is dead on target! Over the past sixty plus years I have been a serious consumer, vineyard owner, and restaurant owner.

My nomination for the best wine book of the year is The City of Vines: A History of Wine in Los Angeles by the eminent wine historian Thomas Pinney, from Pomona College. This is the most fascinating untold story in wine. "Claret, port, Angelica, sherry..." these were the wines of an earlier era. And there are still a few amazing small family producers who carry on these traditions (Galleano, Rancho de Philo). Hopefully readers who expect more from a wine book than banal and simplistic narratives will find deeper pleasures here.