Rating: 4/5
Review:
A very decent introduction
Vin Decanter is a very decent introduction to wine. It is intended as a guide for the interested
beginner and I think it succeeds pretty well.
Christopher Madden takes us through the basics of types of wine,
major wine-producing countries with a little about their regions and the major
classifications of quality. He helps to
lead us through the huge variety of wines and to give an idea of what to look
out for, how to get the most from your wine and so on. I like his lack of pretence in insisting
(quite rightly) that blended wines suffer an unjustified prejudice and that
there can be huge prices charged for wines with famous names which may not
always merit the expense. There's plenty
of other advice and by and large it's good, reliable stuff. Crucially, Madden 's fundamental theme is to
trust your own palate. Quite right,
too. We like what we like and should
never apologise for that, and Madden aims to help us both to find what we like
and perhaps to expand the range of wines we enjoy.
There are quite a few good introductions to wine available
(not least the excellent Bluffers' Guide To Wine) and this is as good as most,
I'd say; it's an easy read, gives sensible advice and is quite nicely
illustrated. If you're looking for somewhere
to start with wine, I can recommend this.
(I received a free review copy.)
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