A reader sent an email yesterday with a good question: How is the Wine For Newbies Wine Tasting Course different from all the other wine books out there? This is a great question–thank you David T.!
When I first thought about writing a wine book, I considered the various books already on the market. Readers here know that I’m fond of Kevin Zraly’s Windows on the World Wine Course and Karen MacNeil’s Wine Bible. Dozens of authors have written other wine books that are a wealth of knowledge.
After teaching at Indiana University South Bend for a while, I began to realize that as much as I might encourage students to identify what they happen to smell in the glass or taste on the palate, new wine drinkers felt uncomfortable. The students were often not sure where to start. If I offered out a few possibilities, it seemed to be a big help. Suddenly, students were able to say, “Yes, I smell that!” Students could also identify other aromas or flavors with greater ease once that first aroma or flavor was identified.
So, in looking at what was missing from the wine books that I was familiar with, I realized that no one had seemed to offer a book with more direction. I figured that I could create a book, keep it short and simple, and include plenty of direction to help the new wine enthusiast identify aromas or flavors.
The Wine For Newbies Wine Tasting Course features brief introductions to the “Big Six” wine grapes: Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon. The material is not long because I’d rather have you drinking the wine rather than simply reading about it. The thing that makes this ebook special, however, is it includes wine tasting note forms–for each of the “Big Six.”
If you buy the book, you’ll find forms for Riesling that allow you to fill in some basic information about the wine, such as the name of the winery, the region, and the vintage year. When it comes to describing the wine, you can choose from a group of possible descriptions and circle the one that fits your wine the best. For example, does the Merlot you’re drinking have weak, moderate, strong, or overpowering aromas? Circle the one that closely describes the wine.
When it comes to aromas, the form lists the most common aromas/flavors found in that particular wine so you can circle those as well. There’s also room to record your own observations.
The other unique feature to this ebook is that I give you some direction on which wines to buy as you work through the tasting note forms. Rather than say, “go out and buy four Rieslings,” I suggest which parts of the wine world the Rieslings should come from. I do the same for the other “Big Six” grapes. As a result, you’ll have three or four wines that have different characteristics so that you can compare them as you do the exercises in the book.
If I was still teaching at IU South Bend (that’s a long story for another time), I would revamp the courses to work off of this model. With the approach in this book, you get to examine different wines made from the same grape, see how they differ, and come away with some descriptors that you can use. The next time you’re looking for a wine and the shop employee asks if you need any help, you can say, “I’d like a Sauvignon Blanc that has lots of grapefruit characteristics.” The well-informed employee can then point you to the wines that meet your criteria.
I am hopeful this ebook will open up the world of wine in a way that complements the podcast and articles on this web site. If you have suggestions on how I can improve the book, be sure to leave a comment!