The Top 5 Most Awesome Wine Books for Beginners

Before the word Sommelier existed in the American culinary vernacular, Kevin Zraly ran the show in the sky at Windows on the World. Not only did he run one of the great wine programs in the World, but he had also trained 1000’s of his staff and thirsty wine enthusiasts with a whole new way to talk and learn about wine. He changed the way Americans taste wine, and the way restaurants serve wine. This book is an absolute must for anyone wanting to learn more about wine from the Maestro himself.

Since the first printing with its mighty name, The Wine Bible has become one of the most famous wine books amongst both pros and novices. Eloquently written and exhaustively researched, this book lives up to its name. This book will take years to read thoroughly and requires a game plan to conquer its vast offerings. We recommend earmarking chapters and organizing tastings, and reading each chapter you choose to play with. This book has it all!

Wine Folly can out of nowhere and flipped the wine industry on its head. They managed to combine the true geekiness of the wine industry and transformed detailed information into a simple brightly engaging image and driven content that’s easy to taste for the eyes. This book is almost like a children’s book with plenty of illustrations, graphs, maps, tasting notes, and pairings that allow the reader plenty of space to have fun reading and putting the pieces together. This one is perfect for the coffee table to flip through and have a little fun. The Magnum Edition says it all!

Wine A Tasting Course is one of the few wine books that focus on tasting wine and why wines taste the way they do. This wine book is a fun, no-nonsense wine book with heaps of great images and aha moments. Miss Old is well known for her fun, straightforward approach, and ability to connect to the everyday wine drinker. This book knocks it out of the park!

For those who don’t want to read another bland wine reference book, this book literally will take you on the Wine Route. It chronicles the adventures of Wine Importer Extraordinaire Kermit Lynch as he makes visits to some of France’s most coveted wine region nooks and crannies. Over the last 40 years, Kermit has been responsible for importing some of the most important French and Italian wines into the US. He transports you into the passenger seat of his journey, finding some of the most exciting wines ever made by some of the most compelling characters and grapes and regions ever bottled.