About The Book

This completely new and updated edition of the 1985 classic Mastering Wine, winner of the Cliquot Prize for the best wine book of the year, provides a complete course in tasting and understanding the virtues and flaws of wine of all kinds—in your home and without bankrupting you. Tom Maresca’s ingenious do-it-yourself guide to mastering wine is based on comparing two wines at a time; his one unyielding rule is that there is no wrong answer to the question “Which wine did you like better?” Each pair leads you to the next, and your own taste charts the course.

You may proceed through the carefully planned sequence of over forty different pairs of reds, whites, ros’s, and sparkling wines, or follow the directions to the wines of a particular region or a particular class, such as Cabernets.

Whichever route you opt for, Mastering Wine can provide you with an acquaintance with the major kinds and classes of dry dinner wines, a painless introduction to wine terms, and practice in the art of tasting and analyzing wine—of any kind. Anyone who would like an introduction to wine or a wider appreciation of the infinite variety of wines will find Mastering Wine the only practical, enjoyable, and affordable choice.

Praise

“Tom Maresca [lays] out a clear and effective plan for understanding and appreciating the subject in . . . Mastering Wine.” –Frank J. Prial, “Wine Talk,” New York Times

“The best choice for a broad and basic wine text.” –Edward Guiliano, The Wine Spectator

“Even without tasting at all, Dr. Maresca’s book is a good read that can sharpen up your taste memory.” –Harriet Lembeck, Wine & Spirits

‘my personal favorite, Mastering Wine, is a no-nonsense, delightfully engineered book. . . . Perfect for the beginner or as a primer for starting a wine tasting group.” –Kristine N. Curry, Chicago Tribune

Awards

Winner of the 1985 Clicquot Wine Book of the Year