Anderson performs an interesting balancing act here, managing to address both the wine novice and the cognoscenti--never seeming too forbidding for the former and always challenging the preconceptions of the latter. Vino has several components: if you're uncertain as to what wine to use for different social occasions, the amiable Anderson is at hand with the perfect suggestion. And if you find yourself with wine left over from a party, he can come up with the most appropriate food. The sections here on identifying the best wines (and the wine lovers' individual responses to them) are among the most useful, taking in all current aspects of wine scholarship, from global wine styles to regions and recipes to complement the best vintages. The prose is always direct and unfussy, but Anderson vividly conjures up the experience the different wines offer.

Of course, books such as this offer an opportunity for pleasurable mental travel and the various regions discussed in the book are evoked with particular skill. So whether you turn first to the extensive glossary or the rather tempting sections on food, this is a book that many a wine lover will be adding to their shelves. --Barry Forshaw

2004-03-23 Pointless book.

This book is an obvious attempt to cash in on the 'foodie' revolution. Hamish Anderson does not make the world of wine seem smaller and more approachable.

As a student of wine I suggest people wanting to understand the subject read Jancis Robinsons Wine Course.