Windows on the World Wine Course: 2002 Edition: A Lively Guide

This is a whirlwind tour of the wine world. It provides brief, but significant nuggets of information about most of the major wine regions, varietals, and types. He offers a number of helpful suggestions for establishing greater familiarity with wine, particularly for those with a limited budget.

The guide is designed for easy reference and offers some good suggestions concerning types, producers, and vintages. His suggestions on matching wine with food are particularly helpful. I was surprised by some of his recommendations which I might now regard as plonk but, admittedly, a few years ago they would have been in my shopping cart. Accordingly, I imagine that many connoisseurs would pick this apart.

This is a good "nuts and bolts" guide, and refreshingly devoid of the "attitude" found in most books of this nature.


Very Educational, Somewhat Entertaining, a Tad Dry   November 17, 2000
 8 out of 8 found this review helpful

I purchased this book in a zealous effort to expand upon my somewhat above-average (e.g. "Most-Wines-Are-Meant-To-Be-Drunk-Young" and "Never-Buy-A-Bottle-With-A-Screw-Cap") knowledge of wine. After reading this massive tome, I realized how little I actually know.

It's an understatement to say that Kevin Zraly covered a lot of ground when penning this compact wine primer. Zraly managed to address (at some level) almost all aspects of wine history, production, and tasting. Considering the depth and breath of material, this was an incredible accomplishment.

Zraly did his best to keep the text lively. However, his enthusiasm for the subject is sometimes quashed by the sheer amount of information he had to cram in. Therefore, when reading this book, one should expect a very "textbook" feel. If you're interested in committing the information to memory, I would suggest reading chapters in short bursts and shooting back a healthy dose of Ginko Biloba.

For anyone interested in wine (on any level), I think this is an excellent investment. In my experience, there is no better single-book resource on wine. (Also, it's a steal, as the restaurant-taught course regularly retails for $500.)


The eternally forgotten Portuguese wines!   January 19, 2000
 5 out of 18 found this review helpful

Mr. Zraly's book has an excellent presentation of SOME of the world's great wine regions. Unfortunately, Mr. Zraly repeats the usual neglect found in other similar American books: besides Port wine, no other Portuguese wines are mentioned! We have been making wines for hundreds of years; we have the world's oldest demarcated wine region in the world; we have unique wines such as "vinho verde"; some of the recent Alentejo red wines are of a superb quality, easily competing with the best Chateu Lafitte's, e.g.; in a recent worldwide poll, one Portuguese wine (Quinta Noval, Douro) was rated as one of the century's 12 top wines.

It is quite unfortunate that this neglect is being perpetuated!

Manuel Mota