Complete, from the grape to the glass, and everything in between that really does matter. If it's an introduction and a mild education in wine you seek, you cannot go wrong with this book.

This book is perfect for anybody who (like me before) does not know anything, or not that much about wine.

From the wine making to the etiquette, and going through the particular wine (champagne, sherry, port...), all the subjects to understand the basics are discussed.

I think the way the information is organized is also very well thought to teach about wine to ... well ..dummies! It is very easy to read and well explained.
After having browsed this book, you will be able to understand much better about wine, and even to talk about it.

I was a little surprised not to find any topic about history, role in society etc... this book is just an introduction and just gives you the tool to enjoy a bottle of wine. Do not expect to be an expert about wine regarding economy or history.

My only criticism would be the way French, Italian and Spanish wine have been quickly treated. For instance, I would have liked to have a few names of good producers from Alsace... but instead I was advised to buy the French Wine for Dummies!!!

In a nutshell : a good buy and I will keep this book on my shelf to refresh my memory once in a while.

This book is really helping me learn the basics of wine. It helps you know what to look for in a good wine, and to help direct you to wines you may like. I am really enjoying it!

You will actually learn a lot from this entry in the "...for Dummies" series. It lacks the rigor and scholarship of most of the "...for Dummies" books, but you'll know more when you finish it than you did before you started. You'll learn that most wine flavors are actually aromas, you'll learn about tannins, what is in balance in a "balanced" wine, what oak barrels do, and even what malolactic fermentation is (it's what makes Chardonnay "buttery.") You'll definitely learn what grapes are used to make our familiar wines, and you'll learn technical terms, like "extract," and "foxy." You'll learn the difference between "fermented" in oak, versus "aged" in oak. And you'll learn all about corkscrews. Unfortunately, the authors' efforts to lighten the subject with humor completely fails; it seems slapstick after the interesting material they cover. One of the authors' primary messages is that wine is a matter of taste, and we should all have the confidence to make up our own minds. They help us with the vocabulary we'll need to communicate our conclusions to others, and they convey their affection for their specialty. You may roll your eyeballs when they gush over France and French wines, but we actually do owe the French our gratitude for its contribution to viniculture. Read "Wine for Dummies" to fill in the gaps in your knowledge, and skip the jokes.

This book is a good choice for someone starting to learn about wine, but if you are only buying one reference I recommend Essential Etiquette Fundamentals, Vol. 2: Wine Selection & Etiquette for those with little, if any, wine knowledge. The "Essential Etiquette" book is an audio book. I like that format because you actually get to hear the narrator pronounce the names of the various grape varieties, wines and terms. It does a great job of covering the basics. Windows on the World Complete Wine Course: 2008 Edition (Windows on the World Complete Wine Course) is another good choice.

To educate myself about wine, I've read several books on the topic. I find that Wine For Dummies, 4th edition, suits my needs and tastes best. Wine For Dummies is thorough and easy to imbibe, definitely a top-shelf Dummies title. I own about a dozen For Dummies books and love them all (so call me a "dummy" but Dummies books have made me smart!). I am sure that this vintage guide, like many of the fine wines it celebrates, will age well. Ten years from now (when the '05 Bordeaux are mature and ready to pour), I will still be able to glean helpful hints from its pages before restocking the wine cellar, or in my case, the homemade, basement wine rack. My wife and I have happily sampled many of the wines that the book recommends. When we sip a Margaux or a Barolo, we often let the wine whisk us off to the landscapes where the grapes grew. In our imaginations, aided by Wine for Dummies' brief descriptions, we can almost see the grapes ripening on Tuscan hills or the slopes of the Cote de Nuits. Why not, the weather of each vintage is still in the grapes; why shouldn't the landscapes live on in the wines? Recently we've discovered a way to enhance our Out-Of-Ohio experiences and bring those faraway places into sharper focus. We read Art History For Dummies while sipping our favorite Wine For Dummies-inspired vintages.

Art History and wine go together as well as, well, wine and cheese. We've learned to taste particular wines while savoring specific chapters of Art History. What a cultural banquet and tour! It's like simultaneously tasting and seeing France, Italy or Spain, without forking out $1,000 for a plane ticket or vacationing on jet lag!

Here's our short list of wine and art history pairings:

While reading chapter 13 in Art History For Dummies, "Going Loco with Rococo," we sipped an Italian bubbly called Prosecco (which Wine For Dummies calls "eminently affordable")--though pink champagne may be a more fitting match since both Rococo and champagne derive from French soil. Or try a little of both! Art History for Dummies says, "In the early 18th century, the upper classes--first in France, then all over Europe--rejected Baroque sobriety and got DRUNK [my emphasis] on ornamentation: swirling fanciful curves; bright pastel colors; dripping gold filigree; and sensuous scenery." It was a partying period. What better way to wobble your way back to the Rococo than with a Wine For Dummies' flight.

Wine For Dummies calls wine "the lifeblood of the Italian people." We've found that reading about the Italian Renaissance while drinking a velvety Italian red like Barolo, Amarone, or a Barbera d'Asti really heightens the experience--you get right into that Italian lifeblood. Wine For Dummies says "Both Barolo and Barbaresco are robust reds....Their aromas suggest tar, violets, roses, ripe strawberries, and (sometimes) truffles." To me, they now also suggest Michelangelo, Raphael and Leonardo! (I must add that the Da Vinci section of Art History For Dummies includes an enlightening Da Vinci Code detour--I wouldn't sip too much while navigating this sub-section.)

If you prefer something more exotic as you delve into the Venetian Renaissance (chapter 12), try a Bellini. Art History For Dummies says, "If you order a Bellini in a bar, the bartender will serve you a drink made from white peaches and Italian champagne. The mixture has a distinct pink glow...the same beautiful shade of pink that Giovanni Bellini once mixed on his palette and applied to such masterpieces as his San Zaccaria Altarpiece in Venice. What better compliment for a Renaissance painter than to have the colors he mixed 500 years ago still inspire revelers today!"

For the Spanish Baroque crack open a Rioja, which Wine For Dummies says "rules the roost," or better yet a Ribera, especially while letting your eyes wander over the mystical canvases of Jusepe de Ribera! WFD says of this Spanish red: "Perhaps no where else in the world does the Tempranillo grape variety reach such heights, making wines with body, deep color and finesse." Sounds almost like they're describing a Spanish painting.

We matched a Cote du Rhone with the Post-Impressionism chapter, especially the sections on van Gogh and Cezanne, who painted in Provence, just south of the Rhone region. Wine For Dummies says Cote du Rhone "is one of the best, inexpensive red wines in the world." Even van Gogh could afford it! WFD gets a little art-historical in this section: "Provence...may be France's most beautiful region. Home of the Riviera, Nice and Cannes, it's certainly the country's most fashionable and touristy region. But it's also an ancient land, with a thriving old capital Aix-en-Provence. The excellent light and climate have always attracted great artists--such as Vincent van Gogh--who painted many of their best works here. Wine has always been part of Provence's culture and economy." You might also try the Les Baux-de-Provence or a Bandol, which WFD notes "enjoys Provence's greatest reputation for reds."

Hands down, most people's favorite "art ism" is Impressionism. For French Impressionism, I suggest a summery French rosé. Or if you prefer to digest your Monets and Renoirs with a shimmering white, uncork a Vouvray from the Loire Valley or a Chablis from Northern Burgundy and picture yourself sitting at the front table in Renoir's Moulin de la Galette: "Sunlight filtering through the surrounding trees bathes the gay company in dappled light, lending a breezy look to the scene, which gives it both immediacy and the feeling of an unending summer." (Art History for Dummies)

For the section on American Abstract Expressionists, especially Jackson Pollock, we opened a Ravenswood Zin, a dazzling Sonoma wine that really attunes you to what AHFD call's Pollock's "exhilarating explosions of energy on canvas." Just don't spill or splash your wine.

Together both Dummies books provide a rich cultural journey that will uplift anyone's tastes.

So you want to get an idea about how and why's of wine in the world. This is the book.

This is a really excellent book. I would consider it the second best wine book out there. The first being Windows on the World Complete Wine Course: 2007 Edition (Windows on the World Complete Wine Course). I suggest buying both to gain a thorough knowledge of wine.

For those of us who are wine-challenged. Do you cringe when the waiter asks if you want to see the wine list? Red or white? Oh what would the waiter suggest..or just order a beer. This book can help you look reasonably competent when ordering or purchasing wine to go with your meal.

For those of us who are wine-challenged. Do you cringe when the waiter asks if you want to see the wine list? Red or white? Oh what would the waiter suggest..or just order a beer. This book can help you look reasonably competent when ordering or purchasing wine to go with your meal.

I love this book and any newbie to wine will to. It's got more than enough information to give anyone the fundamental understanding of what wine is about. Enjoy the journey and cheers to everyone!

I love this book and any newbie to wine will to. It's got more than enough information to give anyone the fundamental understanding of what wine is about. Enjoy the journey and cheers to everyone!

The information is presented in such detailed and in a carefully arranged format. Excellent reference document for someone who wants to get a handle on wine basics.

This was my first book on wine. I've read numerous books on beer, so that was my background coming into the book.

There's a lot of info in the book, but I feel like there is too little practical info and too much "academic" info.

Indeed, three-forths of the book are devoted to the history and geography of wines. Don't get me wrong, this stuff is extremely important; it is the geography and the winery which makes the wine what it is. The problem is that in this regard, the book reads more like "Wine for Experts" than "Wine for Dummies".

In a book for complete novices, you would expect a table, chart, or other easy-to-read section on all of the major types of wine, broken down by various properties such as appearance, smell, taste, etc. "What's a Chardonnay? What's Pinot Noir?" But there isn't anything like that. There are a couple of pages which briefly mention three to four of the most popular varietals in both white and red, but that's it. There's a short section on how to smell/taste wine, which is good, but then you're left to page after page of French legal classification systems and all kinds of other stuff.

Again, that "stuff" is important, and I'm glad it's in there, but it's kinda difficult to get a *basic* grasp on wine by reading all of the expert material, when they never gave you a halfway decent foundation to start with (and I even speak French; if you don't, it will be an even steeper learning curve). And that is my problem with this book.

This is an okay book, but if one of my friends asked, I could not honestly recommend it to someone who knows absolutely nothing about wine. If you already have a fair amount of experience with wine, then you will be okay with this book, but if you are a complete beginner, I would recommend something more basic, because this book really isn't for "dummies" in the subject.

This was my first book on wine. I've read numerous books on beer, so that was my background coming into the book.

There's a lot of info in the book, but I feel like there is too little practical info and too much "academic" info.

Indeed, three-forths of the book are devoted to the history and geography of wines. Don't get me wrong, this stuff is extremely important; it is the geography and the winery which makes the wine what it is. The problem is that in this regard, the book reads more like "Wine for Experts" than "Wine for Dummies".

In a book for complete novices, you would expect a table, chart, or other easy-to-read section on all of the major types of wine, broken down by various properties such as appearance, smell, taste, etc. "What's a Chardonnay? What's Pinot Noir?" But there isn't anything like that. There are a couple of pages which briefly mention three to four of the most popular varietals in both white and red, but that's it. There's a short section on how to smell/taste wine, which is good, but then you're left to page after page of French legal classification systems and all kinds of other stuff.

Again, that "stuff" is important, and I'm glad it's in there, but it's kinda difficult to get a *basic* grasp on wine by reading all of the expert material, when they never gave you a halfway decent foundation to start with (and I even speak French; if you don't, it will be an even steeper learning curve). And that is my problem with this book.

This is an okay book, but if one of my friends asked, I could not honestly recommend it to someone who knows absolutely nothing about wine. If you already have a fair amount of experience with wine, then you will be okay with this book, but if you are a complete beginner, I would recommend something more basic, because this book really isn't for "dummies" in the subject.

This book is very easy to read and is a good introduction to the world of wine. The tear-out card in the front of the book is easy to carry with you to help with choosing the right wine for your meal at a restaurant. The glossary explains unfamiliar terms and the chapter headings are logically organized. Without being patronizing, the book explains the basics of wine making, flavor characteristics, and food pairings.

For someone who's a complete novice to wine (I qualify), the book will start out very enjoyably, especially if you are interested in the wine making process. It gives you a good understanding of the types of wines, and what the names on the labels mean.

The book does go a bit too much into the listing of names that mean nothing to a novice, with little room left to go into much depth about those listed. Much could have been left for the authors more specific wine books.

The area that could use improvement is in the organization of the book, specifically to serving and storage. Everything seems to be there, but it stretched thoughout the book, when it needs to be in a single area for easy reference.

It's all there, but you'll have to pick around to find all the really important bits.

I was a typical "I'm not a wine person" person until a few friends introduced me to some tasty wines. I then bought this book and it completely enhanced my appreciation of wine. Wine for Dummies didn't make me a wine expert (I don't know that I'll ever be one), but it gave me a solid basis for at least knowing how to appreciate wines by terroir and varietal (and even just knowing what those words mean!) and furthering my excitement of this wonderful hobby. I look forward to many more fabulous tastes and furthering my knowledge on the subject. If you don't think you're a wine person, buy this book and at least give it a chance - it could change your perspective on food and give you a new appreciation of life forever!