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Our best wine books for Christmas: Nine great reads and perfect gifts
From absorbing reads to enjoy with a glass in-hand to eleventh-hour present ideas, Decanter's regular book reviewer, Sophie Thorpe, has got you covered with these essential, entertaining wine books.
If you’re a proper wine nerd, most of your wine books will be reference guides – hefty things that don’t get read cover to cover, but are pulled off shelves intermittently and leafed through for specific information.
The likes of Inside Burgundy, The World Atlas of Wine and Wine Grapes are peerless resources – but if I were bundling together the ultimate starter pack of wine books, they wouldn’t feature.
You want books that will inspire and absorb you – books that fill you with the urge to visit vineyards and pull corks, and eventually dive into more impenetrable guides.
Bianca Bosker’s Cork Dork (£10.99 Penguin, 2017) is an addictive read, following the journalist’s headlong dive into the sommeliers’ world.
You don’t need to know anything about wine to enjoy it – and it won’t teach you about classification systems or the permitted varieties in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. It will, however, introduce you to some of the fanatics who fill the industry – and ignite your intrigue.
Bosker’s journalistic background shines through in the work – which is part memoir, part vinous adventure, part investigation into the science of taste, all brought together in a witty page-turner that effortlessly holds your attention.
More great wine books featuring personal tales
Adventures on the Wine Route by Kermit Lynch (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1988; republished 2013). Puligny-Montrachet by Simon Loftus (Daunt Books, 1992).
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I’d add to that a trio of personal tales – stories that offer a glimpse into the world of wine, all from slightly different, tangential angles.
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Simon Loftus’ Puligny-Montrachet (£12.99 Daunt Books, 1992; republished 2019) takes you behind the scenes in Burgundy, exploring the history, politics, people and way of life that define the region and its wines.
In his Adventures on the Wine Route (£14.99 Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1988; republished 2013), legendary wine buyer Kermit Lynch takes you on the road with him, journeying through France, meeting winemakers – some of the iconic names (and curious personalities) that Lynch introduced to the US market.More than that, he helps you discover, in his words, the ‘world of magic’ that wine offers.
The Heartbreak Grape by Marq de Villiers (HarperCollins, 1993).
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Lesser known, and thus (alas!) significantly harder to find, is Marq de Villiers’ The Heartbreak Grape (HarperCollins, 1993). After he’s served a Pinot Noir at a dinner party, de Villiers goes in search of its source and unravels its story.
As it happens, the wine was a bottle of Calera from Josh Jensen, one of California’s pioneering names – and one you won’t forget after reading this book. (The winery was bought by Duckhorn in 2017 and Jensen passed away in 2022 – bottles from vintages prior to this would be the ideal accompaniment.)
Get behind the subject
Once you’ve explored wine through those who love it, you’ll want to add context. I’d start with Christy Campbell’s Phylloxera (£11.99 Harper Perennial, 2004).
Phylloxera by Christy Campbell (Harper Perennial, 2004). Judgment of Paris by George M. Taber (Scribner, 2005).
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This geeky and surprisingly thrilling read on the louse that wreaked havoc around the world of wine in the late 1800s provides essential background – and explains why this plague still strikes fear in the heart of producers. (Just this year, phylloxera was discovered for the first time in Tenerife.)
Around a century later, in 1976, a wine tasting rocked the world of wine to its core: George M Taber takes you behind the scenes of this pivotal event in Judgment of Paris (ebook £7.99 / other prices vary. Scribner, 2005), a tale packed with colourful characters – including the late (and former Decanter consultant editor) Steven Spurrier – explaining the landmark event’s impact and the rise of Californian wine.
The Billionaire’s Vinegar by Benjamin Wallace (Crown Publishers, 2008).
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For something totally different, The Billionaire’s Vinegar (£14.50 Crown Publishers, 2008) – Benjamin Wallace’s tale of the famous Jefferson bottles – explores the world of fine wine auctions and fraud. It leads you into wine’s underworld, introducing you to the late con-artist Hardy Rodenstock, who managed to fool many of wine’s leading figures.
Scintillating and, with a film adaptation in development for many years, it’s tough to put down. (Once you’ve read it, it’s worth watching the excellent documentary Sour Grapes about convicted wine fraudster Rudy Kurniawan.)
Matter of opinion
And finally, two very different books on wine that are arguably my favourites. The first is Clark Smith’s Postmodern Winemaking (£30 University of California Press, 2013).
Postmodern Winemaking by Clark Smith (University of California Press, 2013). Reading between the Wines by Terry Theise (University of California Press, 2011).
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Unlike many of the other books in this list, this isn’t one you should read on a sun-lounger. In this scientific treatise on winemaking today, Smith argues for a balance between art and science in the winery – but most importantly, he fights for the ‘soul’ of wine. He’s unashamedly opinionated and – whether you agree with him or not – his book is well worth a read.
The other is Reading between the Wines (£21 University of California Press, 2011) by Terry Theise, an importer (specialising in German and Austrian wines) and writer.
Theise’s writing haunts me: he has the ability to capture wine so perfectly on the page, grasping its essence with a linguistic dexterity that I envy. This compact, powerful book is about what wine means to Theise – and what it might mean to you.
Sophie Thorpe is a London-based wine writer, largely writing in-house for merchant Fine & Rare. The winner of the 2021 Guild of Food Writers Drinks Writing Award and an MW student, her writing can be found at firstpress.uk.
