Your Summer (Wine) Reading List!
While wine is academically one of the most fascinating subjects on earth, actually deep-diving into reading about it can be much less exciting. Sometimes the subject matter boils down to basic, unseasoned descriptions of the growing environment, the winemaking process, or features of the grape, leaving the reader to curate their own intrigue.
So we’ve compiled a list of wine books in which you can get lost but still learn, learn, learn.
(We may earn a super tiny nominal commission for purchases made through the links below, but each of these books is recommended on its validity alone.)
Your Summer (Wine) Reading List
The Billionaire’s Vinegar by Benjamin Wallace. Wine, scandal, and high profile players with lots of money? Yes, please! In 1985, at a heated auction by Christie’s of London, a 1787 bottle of Château Lafite Bordeaux—one of a cache of bottles unearthed in a bricked-up Paris cellar and supposedly owned by Thomas Jefferson—went for $156,000 to a member of the Forbes family. The discoverer of the bottle was pop-band manager turned wine collector Hardy Rodenstock, who had a knack for finding extremely old and exquisite wines. But rumors about the bottle soon arose. Why wouldn’t Rodenstock reveal the exact location where it had been found? Was it part of a smuggled Nazi hoard? Or did his reticence conceal an even darker secret?
Big Macs & Burgundy by Vanessa Price is the ultimate pairing guide! For everything from popcorn to veggie burgers to General Tso’s Chicken, there is a wine to match. Big Macs & Burgundy is based on the Grub Street column.
Bordeaux & Burgundy: A Vintage Rivalry by Jean-Robert Pitte takes a look at the rivalry between Bordeaux and Burgundy from a social standpoint. The book starts with insults exchanged between the two regions and how prestige and a perceived lack thereof between royal and peasant classes contributed to the reputation of each region. If you love an explanation of social constructs, and also love wine, this book is definitely for you.
Drinking & Knowing Things by Michael Amon is one of the most uniquely written (and honestly a breath of fresh air) books about wine. For starters, it describes itself as follows: “Want a recommendation for the best California Chardonnay to bring to your next dinner party? If so, don’t buy this goddamn book. Forget you even saw this. Purge it from your memory. This book is not for you.” So…. strap yourself in and feel the G’s.
Godforsaken Grapes by Jason Wilson looks past the noble varieties toward lesser-known grapes (much lesser known in some cases). There is a reason that the pecking order is what it is.
The History of Texas Wine by Neal Crain, PhD, is the untold story of the rise of Texas’ wine industry, beginning with Spanish colonists who came to spread Christianity but who ended up staying to grow grapes. This tale includes the story of the solution to phylloxera, survival through Prohibition, communion wine, and the longest bonded winery in the state dating back to 1882.
Natural Wine for the People by James Beard award winner Alice Fiering is less of a story and more of a guide, but it’s interesting and well done. This is worth the read and makes a great gift, especially given what a hot topic natural wine continues to be.
Tangled Vines: Greed, Murder, Obsession, and Arson in the Vineyards of California by Frances Dinkelspiel. One tends to conjure up images of Napa Valley niceties at the mention of California wine, but like most backstories, the history of California’s wine trade is dark. Dating back to the 19th Century, it is a story of vineyards with bloody pasts, tales of rich men, strangling monopolies, the brutal enslavement of vineyard workers and murder.
Tasting the Past by Kevin Bogo contains characters that include a young Swiss scientist who sets out to decode the DNA of every single wine grape in the world; Middle Eastern researchers who seek to discover the wines that King David drank; and a University of Pennsylvania academic who has spent decades analyzing wine remains. It’s written as a narrative and told earnestly.
With a list like this - who even needs Netflix?