Wine Folly: The Essential Guide to Wine

I want you to understand where this comes from. I have been studying cuisine and food science for almost thirty years now, I have studied wine formally and participated in hundreds of tastings, I keep a small 400-bottle cellar, and I had served as an Officier of theSociété Mondiale du Vin for a few years. My library of wine-related books contains only those which contain significant, actionable information not available elsewhere. I have taken my pursuit of wine and food pairing knowledge to the molecular level through the works of François Chartier, the founder of Molecular Sommellerie. On the data presentation side, I am a big fan of Edward R. Tufte, I have attended his seminar on Presenting Data and Information, and I have read all his books. This has taught me to despise pretty infographics that don’t communicate salient information. And so you will hopefully take my review at full weight.That said, I cannot recommend Wine Folly too highly because it is, quite literally, a virtually perfect book. I took a good bit of time to go all the way through every detail of the book so that I could write a properly detailed review, and also to try my very best to find flaws, no matter how small. The only “flaw” I could come up with was really more of a personal preference for straight lines rather than elbowed lines in infographics.The first thing that delighted me was that Wine Folly is the first book that effectively covers the basics for newbies and the advanced topics for the more experienced, but that makes those advanced topics accessible by newbies -- and interesting in such a way that makes one want to read more. It is, in fact, a true “page-turner.”The book is structured much like a great story, in three “acts,” if you will: Fundamentals, Styles of Wine, and Wine Regions.FUNDAMENTALS is about thirty pages of must-read content for everyone; it even covers a few topics on which even the more experienced oenophiles might need a bit of brushing up. It was while reading this first section that I found the infographics actually assisted in rapidly absorbing the essence of the content, rather than just being pretty distractions as they typically are in other instructional books and websites.Here you will learn just what wine really is, how to read a wine bottle, and the five traits of a wine’s foundation. Then it’s on to how to taste wine through look, smell, and taste. That may sound basic, but the authors take you into understanding wine faults, how the taste of wine evolves over time in the glass and why, and how to take useful tasting notes if you’re so inclined. Following this is the handling of wine with choosing the right glassware, service elements like decanting, temperature, and storage. And then you’re right into my favorite subject: food and wine pairing. Here the authors, in seven short yet infographic-rich pages, impart more actionable information on food and wine pairing than entire books typically do. If these seven pages alone were a laminated chart to hang in one’s kitchen, I would have bought it for the price of the whole book, and I already have many books on the subject.STYLES OF WINE is the Second Act, where the body of the story unfolds. It is sectioned by type (sparkling wines, full-bodied white wines, etc) and then within each type by style (Cava, Champagne; Chardonnay, Viognier). Here’s where the infographic team really shined. They created a new type of chart that lists in a circle, like the equidistant petals of a flower, each flavor note of the style. These are grouped and color-coded by category (tree fruit, floral, oak, etc). Now here’s the brilliant thing this does. You can instantly see how simple or complex the flavor profile is by the density of flavors listed, and you can instantly see how those flavors are skewed toward one category or another. Immediately above the chart is a short list of the most dominant flavors, plus a graph of the five attributes of the wine’s foundation as mentioned in Fundamentals. It takes all of three to five seconds to judge how well or not a wine will pair with your meal. The facing page for each style rounds out the information you’ll want to know.To see if they were accurate, I went to my go-to test for a book on wine pairing/tasting: Grüner Veltliner. Sure enough, the profile was broad on the Herbal/Floral category with Green Bean and Asparagus notes listed, and it also touched on Apple and Flint notes. Bingo. They had me at “Grüner Veltliner.”You have to see how they do this. It’s brilliant. Tufte would be proud.WINE STYLES is the Third Act, where the “reasons why” are uncovered. Here you will learn in simple terms about why good wine grows where it does and nowhere else, and what each region’s wines taste like. This is an essential guide to exploring wines that might be new to you, which is how many people find their favorites.And as if all this weren’t enough, every page of the book has a URL printed in the margin that brings you to a corresponding page on the WineFolly.com website where they give you a treasure trove of additional information. For example, the page on Grüner Veltliner is a complete work on the varietal, pairings, what to look for in the wine store, etc. At the bottom of the page is a social media discussion about the topi, so you can see what others have experienced, too.In summary, I can only imagine the Herculean efforts put in by the authors, editors, and information architects on both the book and the website. The copy is precisely edited to be brief and clear, and the content is in no way pretentious. Wine Folly is a quick read of actionable information in plain English. There is only one explanation for the quality of this important work: that it is a labor of love by a team wholeheartedly dedicated to the masses’ better enjoyment of wine through elevated knowledge of its art and science.So buy Wine Folly for your library, and for your life. It will be the best investment of thirteen bucks and change you’ll ever make.

tl;dr - This book helps you experience wine like no other book has done before. It is visually engaging, educationally satisfying, and incredibly enjoyable to flip through. It is for experienced wine connoisseurs and newbies alike. And it exceeds expectations in every way - it did for me at least!----------------------------------------------------My initial, irrational fear:When I opened the box from Amazon and picked up the book, I wanted so much, probably more than most, for this book to be unbelievably awesome. Well, before opening the book, I was suddenly convinced there would be far too much information for me to ever get through without being completely overwhelmed, or bored to tears...and the book isn't even particularly long!Remember, I said "irrational" fear.While it may be irrational, there are probably a lot of people that feel the same way, or have similar preconceived notions, about a book on wine. You might be nodding your head right now. So, I immediately resolved to flip through every page, purely out of respect for the amount of time and effort that was put into this book. To my surprise, I made it through the entire book in 15 minutes. Lies, you say. Let me clarify. I scanned every page quickly, focusing mostly on headings and illustrations. I stopped every so often to browse through the contents on a particular page.Well?? ...I was delighted, to say the least!After flipping through the book a few more times I realized there is something very difficult to do when it comes to education, especially when it involves a seemingly complex topic like wine. That is this - to present information in such a way that it is visually engaging, educationally satisfying, and enjoyable for experts and newbies alike.This book has done just that.THE GOOD:1. It's useful - I can't emphasize this enough. For me, most of the time at least, purchasing decisions are based primarily on usefulness (including birthday/wedding gifts). A few examples (I won't give away much because half the fun of opening this book is what you'll discover next!):(a) This book teaches you, simply and easily, how to smell and taste wine, which is a wonderful part of the wine experience and great information for a novice (like me!).(b) It gives glass type/shape recommendations for every type of wine imaginable in the second section of the book, and explains why in the first section of the book.(c) Everything covered in this book is explained in bite size pieces of information or illustrations. Consider the alternative - you're skimming through a wall of text searching for something specific, only to not find it at all, and promptly decide that reading about wine is boring and a waste of your time - that, my friend, is an example of what this book is not. You can flip to a page, using the index if needed, and find what you're looking for right away - that's useful.Side note: I tested this. I walked to my fridge to assess my cheese inventory. A block of Tillamook sharp cheddar, excellent. I opened the book, turned to the index, found cheese pairing under "C" (naturally), flipped to page 34 and saw that cheddar pairs excellently with full-bodied red wine. I then turned to full-bodied reds in section two and found Cabernet Sauvignon, perfect!2. It's easy to navigate - The book only has 3 main sections. Fundamentals, styles of wine, and wine regions. At first, this alarmed me, but I quickly realized this is one of the best things about how the book is structured. The index helps you find something quickly, and after flipping through the book twice, I knew generally where everything was.3. Want more? No problem! Every page in the book has a specific link to their site, winefolly.com, where you can learn even more about the topic of that page. I've never seen that before, ever. Major bonus points here.THE BAD:If you enjoy and prefer reading walls of text, this book probably won't be your favorite. It may, however, be the most visually enjoyable way to learn about wine. Which will, at the very least, present wine to you in an entirely new light. It won't even seem like learning, it will just be...fun!THE BEAUTIFUL:It is beautiful, truly (Madeline, you're a genius). There are those books that are so visually pleasing, you find yourself browsing through them regularly, not looking for anything in particular, simply enjoying the fun illustrations and bits of information. This is one of those books.Final thoughts:My expectations were exceeded in every way. Be warned, this book will suck you in every time you open it. I know that 10 years from now, I will be just as delighted as I am now to peruse the contents of this visually engaging and smartly composed book about wine."Sweet berry wine!" - Dr. Steve Brule

This book is awesome. I'd never drunk wine, and I wanted something to give me a little bit of knowledge so I could start to find my way. The beginning chapters on wine fundamentals was entertaining and informative and perfect for visual learners with lots of infographics. Readers will learn how to taste and judge wine, make informed tasting notes for future reference, what to look for in good vs bad wine, how to store and decant, how to pair wine with several types of foods, and other basics. The main portion of the book divides wines into major styles and gives a two-page spread for each variety which details the flavor profile, dominant flavors, pronunciation guide, where it is grown, what glass to serve it in, recommended serving temperature, drink-by dates, average lowest cost for decent quality wine of that variety, climate variations in taste, and other interesting and notable facts. The third section of the book divides wine geographically and includes maps for each country, what varieties are grown in what areas, and other informative facts. Additional maps for particularly dense geographic areas are also included. The book also includes a short glossary and index. If you are versed in wine, this isn't the book for you, although there is a LOT of information here that is presented in a very visually-appealing way. But if you're new to wine, this is the perfect book to complement your journey.