Wine Books

If you are interested in wine, whether it is your hobby or profession or you want to pass the WSET or any other wine-related exams, you may need to read some books. But what kind of book? There are plenty of books about wine and winemaking. So I wanted to share with you some of the books I have.

Wine Atlas

If you study wine, you must have a wine atlas. It is important to know wine regions, their delimitations, maps, the soil, and the appellation system in place. Each time you taste a wine you can get so much information about the region, the style, and the soil.

You can use the “The World Atlas” of Wine by Hugh Johnson and Jancis Robinson. But you can choose any atlas you like.

If your main interest is French wine, you should get the “The New French Wine” by Jon Bonné. A masterpiece if you want to understand the actual wine scene in France.

Wine Tasting books

There are also wine-tasting books. This kind of book usually lists grape varieties and wine regions with their properties and their profile. I don’t suggest that you learn wine tasting only by reading books, but it is always a nice way to refine your memory. The grape characteristic section is more helpful. It gives you an overview of what flavor a variety can produce.

The perfect example is Wine Folly by Puckette Madeline.

Books about wine history are also important. It can help you to understand a wine region, how it was chapped, and how the wine became famous.

viticulture and winemaking

But if you go beyond a certain point you need to know viticulture and winemaking, techniques, especially if you want to understand the natural wine movement.

One book I love is “One Thousand Vines: a New Way to Understand Wine” by Pascaline Lepeltier. The book mixes history, science, agronomy, and enology to have a global approach to wine. English edition availble in Octobre

Another book centered on cultivation is “The new viticulture; the science of growing grapes for wine” by Jamie Goode. on Amazon

Wine Science

The science behind the wine is another fundamental aspect of understanding wine. From wine chemistry to neurobiology there is always something you can learn. In the last twenty years, science has made much progress in understanding wine taste and aroma. Some discoveries have been included in some wine-tasting techniques.

I have three good examples for this section: “The Science of Wine” by Jamie Goode, A very good introduction to wine science. on Amazon

“Flowless; Understanding faults in wine” by the same author. on Amazon

The second book is “Neuroenology: How the brain creates the taste of wine” by Gordon M. Shepherd. This book unifies knowledge across disciplines to understand how taste is created. on Amazon

winemaker notes

Another book category is winemaker notes and other writings. With this kind of book, you will have an inside view of the winemaker’s struggles, emotions, and thoughts.

My recommandation; “The Aesthetics of wine” by Jules Chauvet, the grand father of all natural winemakers. on Amazon, in French and in English

The list doesn’t stop here, I have several other books in mind and some ready to read. Many books listed here come from universities but are easy to read, some come from sommeliers or wine specialists and are accessible too.