1 Wine Dude

A Serious Wine Blog For the Not-So-Serious Drinker

Menu
  • Home
  • About
    • New? Start Here!
    • PR & Samples
    • Press & What-Have-You
  • Wine
    • by badge
      • crowd pleaser
      • elegant
      • kick-ass
      • overachiever
      • sexy
    • Full Reviews
    • Mini-Reviews
  • Stalk
    • Follow me on News Break!
    • facebook
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • pinterest
    • twitter
    • YouTube
  • Sign Up
  • Books
  • Services
  • Contact
Menu
1 Wine Dude
Red wine book

I’ll Be Here, Hiding Under The Blanket (January 2018 Wine Product Review Roundup)2 min read

Posted on January 17, 2018January 11, 2018 by 1WineDude

in wine books, wine products

It’s time for the first monthly wine product sample review round-up of the new year, which means you now have a couple of recommendations for vinous-related things to buy after you’ve returned the crappier gifts that you received during the holidays! You’re welcome!

Since it’s been as cold as Dante’s icy ninth circle of hell around here lately, I decided to focus on reading material, all the better to curl up in front of a fireplace with (drink in hand, naturally) and enjoy while hiding from the real world under a cozy blanket.

Red wine bookFirst up is Red Wine: The Comprehensive Guide to the 50 Essential Varieties & Styles, (Sterling Epicure, 288 pages, $27.95) by three people that I happen to know personally (consider yourself full-disclosure-warned): the affable World Wine Guys Mike DeSimone and Jeff Jenssen, and the legendary Kevin Zraly (who might actually still owe me some money). This well-designed book has been getting serious positive press lately, and I’m happy to report that it’s well-deserving of all of it. The subtitle is apt, as Red Wine focuses on being comprehensive rather than exhaustively deep. Having said that, for 98% of wine lovers, they will not need (nor are they likely to find) a better guide to world’s fine red wine grapes than this one. Each grape gets at least a two-page spread that includes wine color, a tasting profile scale that focuses on the wine’s acidity/body/tannin combo, tasting notes and food pairings with at-a-glance icon references, a photo, a brief write-up, and a list of recommended wines to try (from bargain through to splurge price-levels). More ubiquitous grapes get a longer treatment, focusing on stylistic variances between countries, as well as winemaker quotes, and a handful of obscure red varieties (Teran, anyone?) get short highlights. Mad props to Christine Heun, who is credited as the designer, for putting together one of the easiest to navigate references I’ve ever seen in the wine world.

Drink ProgressivelyClosing out this month’s roundup, we have the gorgeously-photographed (think major food-porn style) Drink Progressively: From White to Red, Light- to Full-Bodied, A Bold New Way to Pair Wine with Food (Spring House Press, 240 pages, $27), by Hadley & TJ Douglas, the husband-and-wife owners of Boston’s The Urban Grape. This is a food-and-pairing-focused wine guide, and includes recipes by Straight Wharf’s Gabriel Frasca. The main idea behind Drink Progressively is to focus on wine body above all else, and then suggest wines and recipes to match that body accordingly. The Douglases do this by moving wines through an increasing body scale of 1 to 10, which leaves us with shorthand terms like “5W” (to describe whites from Burgundy and Mosel, for example) and “9R” (e.g., for bolder reds from Dry Creek Valley, Mendoza, and Barossa). It’s a clever, seemingly-simple conceit that I found gets confusing very quickly. Having said that, this book might be worth the cover price for the recipes and wine recommendations alone, though the latter tend towards the geekier (and therefore probably more difficult to find) end of the spectrum. The unsung hero here is Beatrice Peltre, whose photographs are downright stunning.

Cheers!

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

Related

Dude’s New Books

Wine Taster's Guide Now Available!

“Bravo! Wine Taster's Guide is a perfect primer for both wine novices and learning enthusiasts." ―Evan Goldstein, Master Sommelier

Wine Taster's Journal Now Available!

"Wine Taster's Journal belongs in everyone's cellar… preferably wine-stained, dog-eared, and well-used.” ―Brian Freedman, wine/spirits/travel columnist

Get Some Wine

Popular Stuff

  • Wine in the Time of Coronovirus, Part 21: Touchable (Tasting Untouched By Light)
    Wine in the Time of Coronovirus, Part 21: Touchable (Tasting Untouched By Light)
  • Carignan, My Wayward Son (Chile's Carignan Renaissance for NVWA)
    Carignan, My Wayward Son (Chile's Carignan Renaissance for NVWA)
  • Wine Reviews: Weekly Mini Round-Up For January 11, 2021
    Wine Reviews: Weekly Mini Round-Up For January 11, 2021
  • Wine Reviews: Weekly Mini Round-Up For December 21, 2020
    Wine Reviews: Weekly Mini Round-Up For December 21, 2020
  • A Quiet Resistance (Eyrie Vineyards Original Vines Pinot Noir, In Retrospect)
    A Quiet Resistance (Eyrie Vineyards Original Vines Pinot Noir, In Retrospect)

About + Contact

Joe Roberts

Joe Roberts

Certified Specialist of Wine & WSET Advanced
Author, speaker, consultant, wine judge, & critic.

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS Feed

Find Stuff

Sign up, lushes!

Join 36,566 other subscribers

Fine Print

This site is licensed under Creative Commons.

Code of Ethics and Privacy Policies.

Play nice!

Get The Guide

Wine Tasters Guide Footer
#1 New Release in Amazon's Wine Tasting category
This site uses cookies. Duh. Cookie Policy
©2021 1 Wine Dude
Yo yo YO!

Wine Tasters Guide InstagramWell, hello there!

If you like what you’re reading (and want to like more of what you’re drinking), consider subscribing.

If you’re up for a more immersive wine learning experience, check out my books and other services.

Cheers!

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.