At this point, I think that we can call me categorically insane, because I felt compelled to write yet another goddamned book!
The story unfolded something like this…
I was thinking about the myth of “good” vs. “bad” wine that is the crux of the second chapter of my 2025 book How to WIN at Wine, and after a glass or two, I started musing about all of the other wine myths that we (collectively, casual drinkers to collectors to professionals alike) tend to propagate, even long after those myths are either less reliable or are downright false.
After a few more glasses, the idea of turning those myths on their ears became more attractive. After a few more glasses, the idea of turning that into a book started to sound like a good idea.
The result of that healthy musing and unhealthy over-consumption is Unlearning Wine: How to Drink Past Wine’s Most Persistent Myths.
Yes, I need help. And not (just) for the drinking.
Anyway, I present to you yet another book, available in eBook, Audiobook, Paperback, and Hardcover (for you big spenders out there).
Stylistically, this book is closer in spirit to my 2020 book Wine Taster’s Guide, while thematically being a somewhat more serious extension of How to WIN at Wine. I am pleased with the result, and think it strikes a decent balance between the more helpful and informed tone of the former and the more freewheeling/easy access focus of the latter.
You can be the judge of that, of course! And if you do pick up a copy, I would deeply appreciate you leaving a review. And no, I have NOT forgotten about the other other book in the pipeline that I announced recently—The Algorithm and the Vine—which is absolutely still in the works (assuming that I don’t get sidetracked by yet another book idea).
The PR-style description is below (sorry, it’s obligatory):
Unlearning Wine
How to Drink Past Wine’s Most Persistent Mythsby Joe Roberts
Wine is supposed to be enjoyable.
So why does it make so many people feel uncertain, self-conscious, or convinced they’re doing it wrong?In Unlearning Wine, award-winning wine writer and critic Joe Roberts takes aim at the most stubborn, misleading, and anxiety-producing myths that surround wine today—from the idea that expensive bottles are always better, to the belief that only experts know what “good” wine tastes like, to the notion that there’s a single, universal standard for balance, quality, or correctness.
This is not a textbook. It’s not a tasting manual. And it’s definitely not a rulebook.
Instead, Unlearning Wine is a myth-by-myth field guide written in the voice of someone who has spent decades tasting professionally, judging international competitions, traveling the world’s wine regions, and—most importantly—drinking wine alongside real people who just want to enjoy what’s in their glass.
Each chapter tackles one persistent wine myth, exploring:
- Why the idea took hold in the first place
- Why it sounds true
- What’s actually going on beneath the surface
- How Roberts approaches wine instead
- And what all of this means for how you drink, buy, and enjoy wine
Along the way, Roberts draws on personal experience, cultural history, and hard-earned perspective to dismantle the false certainty that has made wine feel more like a test than a pleasure.
You’ll learn why:
- Scores don’t tell you everything you need to know
- Sommeliers are guides, not oracles
- “Natural wine” isn’t a return to some lost golden age
- Old vines don’t automatically guarantee greatness
- Sweet wines can be among the greatest—and longest-lived—in the world
- And why the “right” way to drink wine is usually just the way you enjoy it most
If you’ve ever felt talked down to by wine culture, confused by conflicting advice, or pressured to perform expertise instead of pleasure, Unlearning Wine offers something refreshingly rare: permission to trust your own experience, backed by insight rather than dogma.
Whether you’re new to wine or deeply immersed in it, this book will change how you think about what’s in your glass—and make drinking wine feel human again.
Cheers!