About Wine
By J. Patrick Henderson & Dellie Rex
Thomson Delmar Learning
We were particularly interested to receive this book for review since it is a course book for professional/students and many of our readers work in the wine or restaurant trade (or hope to be). As soon as you see it it certainly gives you the impression of being a serious text book: over 500 pages in large format, and not much “gloss”. The book is written by Americans for Americans but that doesn’t in anyway diminish its value as a general “wine course” study book (actually, it hardly shows at all). The coverage is very balanced, covering all the important wine regions across the world. It starts with a good overview of the basics: the vineyard, the winery and wine making technology and about tasting wine. The following chapters go through the wine regions of the world. But what makes this wine particularly valuable for the professional are the last few chapters on “the business of wine”: how better to sell wine in a restaurant, how to manage and develop a restaurant wine list, and even on how to train the colleagues. Certainly a book to recommend as a study book for professionals in restaurants and the wine trade, but also a very good book for the “amateur” who wants a bit more technology and structure than what you get in the glossy books.
