| View Larger Image | Windows on the World Complete Wine Course: 2009 Edition | Hardcoverby Kevin Zraly (Author)
| List Price: | $24.95 | | Price: | $16.47 | | You Save: | $8.48 (34%) | | | Available: | Usually ships in 24 hours |
| | Binding: | Hardcover | | Publisher: | Sterling | | Edition: | 2009 Edth Edition | | Page Count: | 224 Pages | | Publication Date: | October 07, 2008 | | Sales Rank: | 2,346nd |
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EDITORIAL REVIEWS |
Product Description
Windows on the World Complete Wine Course is simply the bestselling wine book in North America—it’s a classic. In addition to retaining the expanded 60-page section on “101 Wines You Should Know,” from last year, the 2009 revision will include 16 pages of quizzes (two at the end of every chapter) to test readers on how much they’ve learned—just as if they were in Kevin’s class. Those who use the book as an actual course will find this enormously helpful, and a great challenge for testing their knowledge of wine fundamentals. Of course, all wine lists and labels, vintage charts, and trend reports will receive a complete update, too. As always, Zraly organizes his wines by region, from simple to complex, beginning with white wines from France, the U.S., and Germany; he moves on to the red wines of Burgundy and the Rhône, Bordeaux, the U.S., Italy, Australia, Argentina, and Chile; and concludes with champagnes and ports. By following Kevin’s order, readers will experience the best wines and the wide diversity of taste, style, region, and country. It’s not only a comprehensive and bargain-priced hands-on wine education, but a superb catalog from which to start a wine cellar or find a bottle appropriate for any occasion at any price.This unequaled volume retains all the invaluable information, fabulous illustration, and gorgeous styling of the previous editions—presented in Zraly’s inimitable, irreverent style. It’s clearly the wine guide against which all others are judged. |
CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.5 based on 40 reviews)
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I now know more than I ever wanted to know about wine. by Aaron Reule (Wilmington, NC)  5 Stars
October 26, 2009
This was my first and will probably be my last book I will ever buy on the subject. Whether you are new or old to the wine world you will definitely learn something new. It will teach you how to read the bottle, by covering regions, different kinds of grapes, and the vintages so you are able to pick out a bottle of wine intelligently. Again I have never read another book on the subject, but this book had everything that I was looking for, so I believe it is a great book.
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Great book for learning about wines by Anne E. Rivera  4 Stars
September 28, 2009
A friend told me about this book, since I am interested in learning about wines. This book truly fit the bill. VERY informative! Not in the best of shape, but good enough.
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Miss by Heather Cenek (Berwyn, IL) 5 Stars
July 08, 2009
I'm a culinary student & find this book to be wonderful when it comes to me having dinner parties & creating menus for any class projects. This was such a great deal!!!!
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approachable and useful by Mary (California) 5 Stars
June 30, 2009
I was one of those people who knew just enough about wine to get my wallet in trouble but not enough to know WTF I was doing at a winery or at the liquor store. So I picked up this book to learn more. Wow! It's really helped me to learn how to make good choices (like a textbook) rather than to memorize facts (like an encyclopedia).
Don't get me wrong. There is a place on the shelf for the wine encyclopedia, but the place for Windows On the World Complete Wine Course has been on my desk or in my lap.
As a reference is is fairly good but really this should be used as a text for yourself, or perhaps more organized study.
The book includes an introduction that outlines the wine basics that everyone should know and then moves into wines of the world by region, which are the best producers or shippers, and various facts about the grape, weather for particular years, anecdotes, explanation of the best values, etc.
Rather than having chapters, the book is broken up into classes with the idea being that you would learn the things in that class before moving on or jumping around in the book.
Class One covers the White Wines of France.
Class Two covers The Wines of Washington, Oregon, and New York along with The White Wines of California. Then covers American Wine and Winemaking: A Short History.
Class Three covers The White Wines of Germany and Red Grapes of the World.
Class Four covers The Red Wines of Burgundy and the Rhone Valley.
Class Five covers The Red Wines of Bordeaux.
Class Six covers The Red Wines of California.
Class Seven covers Wines of the World: Italy, Spain, Australia, Chile, and Argentina.
Class Eight covers Champagne, Sherry, and Port.
Some additional content includes The Greater World of Wine, The Complete Wine-Tasting Course, The Physiology of Tasting Wine, Matching Wine and Food, Wine Buying Strategies for Your Wine Cellar, Creating an Exemplary Restaurant Wine List, Wine Service and Wine Storage in Restaurants and at Home, and Frequently Asked Questions About Wine.
I'm fairly certain that after studying this book and completing a good amount of tasting that I will be able to take (and pass) some of the lower-level certification courses that exist in the industry. In fact, each chapter has a series of questions, (not all of them have been easy) and a page number where you can find the answer. If that's something you're interested in, you really will want to read this book. The price represents a great value for the content and I think everyone who can read and has an interest in wine will find the information to be both interesting and useful.
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The best wine book ever by laurie 5 Stars
June 23, 2009
Kevin makes it easy without dumbing it down. He takes the snobbery out of wine and allows you to just enjoy it.
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