This was the title of the book that Mr. Paul Mann suggested for my initial reading.  I still have the book, and still is my first “go-to” for quick reference.  It was written by Alexis Bespaloff.  The book was published in 1971 (and it was the Seventh Printing).  Mr. Bespaloff was with the Alexis Lichine Company of New York, as well as an author and contributor to different publications and a wine consultant to Time-Life Books.

The first sentence in the Introduction is “America is not a wine-drinking nation” and he proceeds from that assertion.  He discusses how to read a wine label, and how wine is made.  Then he goes into the different wine regions of the world, the bulk of the book is devoted to European wines.  He always discusses wine in restaurants, pairing with food, even the proper tools one should have at home, including the different shape of glasses.  Still a great book to explain the enjoyment of wines, without a holier-than-thou attitude.

Two curious notes about my copy of the book (because of the year of publication) is that Chateau Mouton-Rothschild is still listed as first of the second growths (not in the first growths where it is now placed, deservedly so) and that only twelve pages of two hundred some pages are devoted to all of California.  This book was written prior to the great blind wine tasting in France that made California an overnight sensation.  America began to have passion, romance, pride and a new appreciation for wine.

For a feel good night, select a good bottle of wine, and some cheese and crackers.  Watch the film “Bottle Shock.”  I like to think of this movie as the “Rocky” of the Napa Valley and how Chateau Montelena beat the French on their turf.