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Windows on the World Complete Wine Course: 2005 Edition: A Lively Guide
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Product Description
“A visually exciting, intelligently structured reference.”—Bon Appétit
“The top introductory book available.”—Booklist
“Are you intimidated by wine stewards? Read Kevin Zraly’s new edition of
Windows on the World Complete Wine Course and order with aplomb”—Playboy
“The liveliest short course on wine ever wrapped between two covers”—Boston Globe
“Brims with enthusiasm...breezy, down-to-earth....Reads like an interesting conversation.”—Chicago Tribune
“As entertaining as it is informative. A masterful job of simplifying a complex subject and making it fun in
the process.”—New York Daily News
Kevin Zraly’s incomparable course (“One of the best start-from-scratch wine books ever written.”—Frank Prial, The New York Times) is still America’s top-selling guide to wine. In this year’s revised edition, Zraly takes a close look at America’s wines and their history, discussing varieties from all 50 states; his tips and guidelines for purchasing them will prove wonderfully invaluable. One thing hasn’t changed: Zraly’s inimitable, irreverent style. He answers every question about wine, offers the most up-to-date recommendations, provides advice on buying wine in stores and on the Internet, takes you on a country-by-country, region-by-region ratings tour of the latest vintages, and starts you on your way to becoming a wine connoisseur. Abundant full-color labels and maps complete the enticing picture. More current, more informative, more concise and precise than ever, this remains the wine guide against which all others are judged.
Kevin Zraly is the founder and teacher of the Windows on the World Wine School that has graduated more than 14,000 students. He is the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the European Wine Council and the James Beard Award, among others. Kevin Zraly has been featured in The New York Times, People magazine, The Wall Street Journal, GQ magazine, Newsweek, and USA Today.
• Major National Publicity
• Yearlong Advertising in The New Yorker
• Features in Food and Wine Publications
• Book Reviews in Newspapers Nationwide
• Tie-in with Author’s Wine Course and Lectures
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #561401 in Books
- Published on: 2004-08-01
- Original language: English
- Binding: Hardcover
- 224 pages
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Picking out a wine book, either for yourself or as a gift, can be almost as daunting as the wine list itself. Kevin Zraly, founder of the Windows on the World Wine School, knows this, and his newly-updated twentieth anniversary edition is as indispensable as the corkscrew. Zraly starts small, with an overview of developments in the wine industry since the book's last publication, and then covers the basics of fermentation, important wine regions and how to taste wine. What really sets the book apart from its peers is Zraly's patience with the reader. The book is peppered with questions ranging from "How long should I keep a Beaujolais?" to strategies on creating and stocking a wine cellar. Quirky quotes, anecdotes and cocktail party trivia are scattered throughout the book's margins. The result is an eminently readable book that manages to teach while it entertains. Through it all, Zraly remains down-to-earth and free of the snootiness many newcomers associate with the daunting world of wine. Wine experts may find this book lacking, though, and might be better served by a more exhaustive, encyclopedic book, as Zraly focuses on French and domestic wine at the expense of Italian, Spanish and Australian brands. (Including Yellow Tail, an Australian wine that, according to Zraly, is the top-selling imported wine.) Still, this is an excellent introduction to the world of wine and should be warmly received by those looking for a well-structured and informative book on the subject.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
This latest edition of Zraly's wine primer takes into account the most recent vintages and the newest wines to appear in the American marketplace. Zraly continues to be one of the country's leading wine advocates and one of its most gifted teachers, his enthusiasm for his subject shining on every page. Steering clear of wine snobbery, Zraly leads the neophyte gracefully through convoluted territory. In addition to wines from Europe and California, Zraly talks about Australia's contribution, which now supplies the U.S. with its best-selling imported wine. He also rates Argentine and Chilean wines, whose quality has come to rival California's finest products. The bulk of Zraly's text dwells on the classic French wines of Burgundy, Bordeaux, the Rhone Valley, and Alsace, whose historical complexities and specialized terminologies generate the mystique that endows these wines with perennial allure. The book's layout and its use of multiple sidebars on every page help pack an amazing amount of both practical information and entertaining details between the covers. Mark Knoblauch
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
About the Author
Kevin Zraly is the founder and teacher of the immensely popular Windows on the World Wine School that has graduated over 10,000 students since its inception in 1976. He has studied winemaking techniques in California and all the great wine regions of Europe. Not only is he the creator of the famous wine list at Windows of the World, he also designed the training program for the most knowledgeable wine-service staff in America. The recipient of the James Beard Award as the Wine & Spirits Professional of the Year and the Food & Beverage Association's Man of the Year Award, Kevin is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Culinary Institute of America and has been featured in The New York Times, People magazine, The Wall Street Journal, GQ magazine, Newsweek, and USA Today, among others. He is the co-host of the Food Network's "Wine A to Z
Customer Reviews
Applause! This book is like great vintages, always improving
I have several editions of Mr. Zraly's Complete Wine Course. I find myself looking forward to each years edition, waiting to see his take on current vintages and always wine "tid-bits" that make wine loving so enticing. I have a restaurant in S.C., which the current edition is always on the table in our tasting room. I also find myself giving it as birthday and Christmas gifts. All my friends have it, whether they are wine fanantics or not. It is always a perfect coffee table book. Great beginner book or for any wine lover. Learning about wines is loving wines!
Heights Unmatched
This book is named after the restaurant "Windows on the World" (WotW) which was near the top of the World Trade Center (NYC). Although I had been to the top of the WTC many times, I never made it to WotW. I wish I had. If this book is any indication (especially the 2003 edition with stories and pictures about the restaurant itself), it must have been a wonderful experience.
For beginners, this book should be read after "Wine for Dummies" (WfD). I recommend WfD as the book to purchase if you only want one book. If you want two or more, which is very likely, the second one is this one, "Windows on the World Complete Wine Course" (WotWCWC). This book covers reds and whites, in depth, as well as a clearly diagrammed set of geography pictures and notes.
The author takes out much of the snobbishness of others, presenting a great deal of information in an attractive manner. This is great for the library as well as a book that can be laid out on a table for casual reading by guests.
There is a FAQ section towards the back that is very good. There are also some suggestions for starting your own collection and for those that want to make a restaurant wine list (which is also a must-read because some of it will apply to your own collection).
This book is a must-have for a wine library. Your guests will also appreciate it.
Not just for beginners! A great read.
My husband and I consider ourselves wine hobbyists - not really beginners - and we are getting a lot out of this book. Zraly packs a lot in, and it's all interesting stuff, from little known facts (did you know your nose can discern over 2,000 different smells?) to diagrams of the taste centers of your tongue, to discussions of the various wine regions in different countries, as well as the United States. What sold me on this book is the suggested wine buys for the well-stocked cellar (in the Appendix), where Zraly suggests wines you can easily find in various ranges: under [money] (everyday wines), [money] (once a week wines), [money] and up. Great suggestions from someone whose been in the business for years and loves it.
