Taber is able to strike a fairly good neutral ground and avoids showing prejudice toward one type of closure over another. His examination of the cork industry is very informative with respect to all the changes they have made for the future and all the errors they have made in the past.

Even if you are not a wine geek, this is an enjoyable book for all to read. And several times throughout the book you will find yourself learning some new piece of science or history that will make cocktail parties more fun.

Inside readers will find updates on the happenings in the wine world during the previous year. It calls on experts from around the world to supply the updates. One great aspect of the book is it does not just cover the traditional wine regions but also non-traditional regions such as Asia, India, Scandinavia and US states other than CA, WA, OR and NY. Also, the opinion pieces from these experts are usually very pointed and critical about the issues that need to be addressed in the respective regions.

For anyone who wants the best and most concise update on the world of wine over the last year, this is the resource for you. And this is an annual resource to purchase.

Now the main audeience this book is geared toward is the wine community to get the inside story as to what happened with the Mondavi family. I also feel this book should be of interest to family owned business, especially those who will soon be dealing with generation transfer of management. This is would be a best described as a “what not to do guide.”

The detail of the events covered in the book is extrodianary. The reader feels as if they were taken to that date and time. From the extensive interviews Julia did, a complete picture is created along with all the back stories leading up to major events. Her ability to cover so many complex backstories and personal issues without confusing the reader makes the book enjoyable to read.

I would recommend this book to anyone in a family business or someone wanting to learn more about the California wine icon Robert Mondavi.

This book is an easy and fast read. It has some good basic pointers to help someone who is first starting to develop a wine collection. It breaks down wine cellars into four different types, the balanced cellar, the instant gratification cellar, the tasting cellar and the investment cellar. Between these four strategies, he helps develop a basic cellar for each type of collector.

His chapter on developing a relationship with a retailer is thought provoking. I personally feel there are very few retailers in the country that would be able to assist an investing collector. And even if the cellar falls into one of the other three categories, I think most retailers would rather push current stock items on a purchaser than actually find interesting wines that fit the bill. I do strongly encourage all wine buyers to develop a relationship with a retailer they like and the retailer understands what type of wines you enjoy. But that should be the subject of another post.

What I found the most useful portion of the book is the auction tips and he reinforced my assumption of if you are investing in wine expecting to get a financial return, than you are best off sticking with the blue chip wines. Blue chip wines being premier grand cru Bordueax, grand cru Burgundy, cult Spanish, Italian and California wines. The other wines would be more for personal consumption.

The best brief summary of this book is WOW!

The passion Andrew Jefford has for French wine, especially the improvements taking place in each region is clearly felt by the reader. This is a great book to get a comprehensive understanding of the current issues taking place in France. He is critical when he needs to be, but also has great respect and understanding for tradition, and realizes the changes in the world wide wine industry.

Even if you are not interested in French wine, I would encourage anyone interested in wine to read the chapter on terroir. This is the best explanation of terroir I have ever read and his comparison of wine to music is extraordinary.

I have read a lot of wine books. Most are very dry and technical in nature, which is appropriate with certain books, but this one has emotion and draws in the reader, creating a new passion in the reader for French wine.

Michael Broadbent’s Wine Tasting was a suggested read for me by my Advisor/Mentor.

It arrived in my hands about 40 minutes ago. And after a quick look through, I really wish I had known about this book before I took the Advanced Certificate. It will be a great help for the Diploma, but it would have made things so much clearer for the Advanced exam. This book should be required reading for both classes.

I highly recommend this book to ANYONE who wants to improve their wine tastings skills. This is not for those who are just getting into wine, but more for those who have been tasting for a while and want to raise the level.

And it costs less than $10 on Amazon.