Heard It Through the Grapevine: The Things You Should Know to Enjoy Wine

by Matt Skinner
Mitchell Beazley, 176 pp., $24.99

Some people learn better from pictures, others from words. It’s tempting to page through Matt Skinner’s book, nearly half of which is jammed with Chris Terry’s gorgeous photography (give this person some awards, please), and write it off as a beautiful picture book for adults. Pretty it is, but buried in the busy art direction, you’ll find remarkably cogent advice that is accurate and well thought out. For someone who wants a coffeetable book to peruse, picking sections or chapters at random, this book delivers the goods with pithy facts and recommendations. It’s kind of like a nice, frosty glass of Grand Cru Chablis: It goes down so easy you’re tempted to gulp it down, but there’s so much to enjoy, it’s better to sip. For anyone anxious to learn about wine, try to absorb one page of Skinner’s information a day, and in a couple of months, you’ll be quite the expert.

This article appears in May 29 • 2009.

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Wes Marshall is the author of What's a Wine Lover To Do? (Artisan) and The Wine Roads of Texas (Maverick), as well as the Executive Producer of the PBS television series of the same name. Wes has written for The Austin Chronicle since 1999, covering wine, cocktails, food, and travel.