Rating: 
Summary: The genie is out of the bottle
Review: Finally, there is a guide to wine that everyone can use. And the writing is clever and funny. I had high expectations for this book and they were fulfilled. In 2 chapters Andrea Immer arms you with the information you need to know to tackle the wine list at your favorite restaurant or the wine racks at your local shop. She concentrates on the six big grape varietals (3 white and 3 red) with tidbits on some other varietals and gives you a method of categorizing wines -- in terms of body and in terms of taste. Once you have been given this way of approaching wine you can use it to explore on your own. Be prepared to do a lot of tastings.
Rating:
Summary: The genie is out of the bottle
Review: Finally, there is a guide to wine that everyone can use. And the writing is clever and funny. I had high expectations for this book and they were fulfilled. In 2 chapters Andrea Immer arms you with the information you need to know to tackle the wine list at your favorite restaurant or the wine racks at your local shop. She concentrates on the six big grape varietals (3 white and 3 red) with tidbits on some other varietals and gives you a method of categorizing wines -- in terms of body and in terms of taste. Once you have been given this way of approaching wine you can use it to explore on your own. Be prepared to do a lot of tastings.
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Summary: At War with the Wine Snob
Review: Here it is at last! Andrea Immer, herself a master sommelier, has written the definitive guide to selecting, buying, and ultimately, enjoying wine. Her approach is unique: limit her discussions to the Big Six varietals: riesling, chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, pinot noir, merlot, and cabernet sauvignon, which together account for the vast majority of wine sales in the world today, and proceed accordingly. (Hopefully, in future editions, she will include more discussion on those fast-rising varietals pinot grigio and shiraz.) She proceeds through discussions of tasting and paring with food, as does any other good wine-buying guide. What makes Ms. Immer's approach unique is that she MAKES WINE FUN!!! In doing this, she's going against the grain of centuries of wine snobbery and elitism. She believes wine should be demystified and its joys revealed TO EVERYONE, not just a select few who can afford $50-$100 a bottle. She does this by including unique wine tasting exercises, such as pairing wines with their opposites to give a clear understanding of the concept. (Example: dry riesling tasted with sweet riesling so the reader can immediatly see the difference.) She also includes plenty of names of sample wines you can test with, including many low-priced bottles. In short, her vision, clarity, and above all, SENSE OF HUMOR make this a must-read for everyone interested in wine who detests snobbery and pretension.
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Summary: Finally! A practical, well-organized guide to wine!
Review: I absolutely loved this book! The author gives very *practical* advice on how to select and taste wine. I especially loved her well-laid out tasting exercises with very specific instructions. No pretention here - just great, clear, easy to understand, practical advice. This book would make a superb textbook for a winetasting class. A fun idea would be to invite some friends over to do the "lab exercises" with you.
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Summary: At last - The wine book I've been looking for.
Review: I have been in the wine business for many years, and have read all the standard texts. This is a great one. The "flavor map" and the new world/old world distinction will help anyone select good wine whether from the neighborhood store or from a resturant. Ms. Immer removes much of the mystique and snobbishness that often is associated with wine, and presents the subject simply and honestly. Her knowledge and enthusiasm is evident on every page.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book for Beginners
Review: I knew very little about the wonderful world of wine before buying this book. I ma glad that I did! It is well written, easy to read and gives fantastic selection suggestions. Ms. Immer teaches you how to truly taste wine and proper wine vocab. to name a few. I have taken this book to the liquor/wine store many times and have never been disappointed. Great for beginners.
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Summary: This Book Delivers
Review: I love it when a book delivers, and this one does. It truly makes simple the complex world of great wine. I went from an insecure novice to a confident wine buyer in a few days of enjoyable reading and tasting. Ms. Immer knows her subject very well, writes in a clear, informative and enjoyable style, and guides the reader through wine tastings that teach the ideas she is presenting in an understandable and memorable way. The book teaches you how to identify the various characteristics of wines (tastes, aromas, etc.) that you enjoy and how to purchase/order wines that are likely to be pleasing to you.
Rating:
Summary: Simply Excellent
Review: I only know how to enjoy wine by drinking it and Ms. Immer capitalizes on this with her readers. My girlfriend and I learned more in the first two chapters of this book than we have in 6 months of going to wine stores, wine tastings and wine websites. This read is entertaining, informative, fun, and immersive... Andrea has given us the confidence to order wine at any restaurant and now we're putting together our own family wine tasting event.... this is a must buy for anyone wanting to learn about wine at all. We love it.
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Summary: This is the way learn about wine!
Review: I received this book over a year ago as a gift. My friends are mostly beer drinkers and I had a heck of a time convincing them to get into wine. But Andrea Immer did it for me. I put together the first tasting in the book at my own expense and invited my buddies to try it. They did (free booze was a sure thing)and we've now gone through all of the tastings w/ everyone chipping in. That's no small feat considering that we are college students from S. Texas, not a traditional wine drinking constituency.The book worked by taking an easy, step-by-step approach. You won't get overloaded if you follow Immer's recommendations. Go one chapter at a time and put things on hold if you can't stick w/ the plan. Immer has has taken into account nearly everything. The wine tastings are amazing. They consistently brought out the characteristics she was writing about. As soon as we sat down and actually worked through the wines, everything became obvious. The specific wines Immer provides as options (broken into 3 categories by price) for each tasting were consistently good. We mostly bought from the low priced category, but every wine was very enjoyable. When we did step up to the mid-priced wines, there was a very significant increase in quality. In my opinion, all the wines represented great values. I'm not the only one in my group who shops for wine w/ the book in hand. We've never been steered wrong. There are a few weaknesses to the program. As Immer points out herself, you are likely to get drunk if you don't have enough people to help go through the wines. While that wasn't a problem for us, I found the tastings to be more fun w/ around 8-10 people anyway. It is no fun being the designated driver, BTW. Another issue, for me atleast, was the difficulty of conceptualizing the characteristics Immer described. Of course, that's why she went to the trouble of setting up brilliant wine tastings. But, there's the big problem: you cannot get a lot out of this book without doing the tastings. Immer says you can't learn about wine w/o tastings and that her method is fast and simple. She's right, I've been through a number of classes that did less and cost more. Just don't expect this to be a quick process. It's "wine made simple" not "wine for idiots". A few tips: 1) make the tastings a regular event among a select, steady group of friends (it was hugely rewarding, we still regularly set up tastings) 2) assign the task of making crib notes for each chapter or tasting, then hand them out before the tastings 3) have food on stand-bye 4) agree over who will do what for the next tasting before you leave the present tasting. My last recommendation, buy this book if you want to get comfortable with wine and enjoy it more.
Rating: 
Summary: Capitalize on what you already know + learn some new stuff
Review: I'd pride myself as having decent wine knowledge. I drink wine almost every day, have about 600 bottles in my cellar and subscribe to a few wine periodicals. I tend to read just about everything about wine I can get my hands on, from the industry to wine ratings. I have to say, I found Andrea's book to be a great resource to help me organize my thoughts around what I already knew (region characteristics, grape varietals, etc.), plus introduce me to some new regions (primarily the minor French and Italian wines) that I wasn't already familiar with. My only rub is that Andrea didn't spend more time in the book on CA wines, but given that that region is "new world" and adopts many of the French style and techniques, I understand. BTW, I also live in N. CA, so I admit I'm very biased. Bottom line: this is a great book to introduce/help you organize your wine knowledge and prepare you to continue to refine you appreciation of wine. I understand other readers opinion that Andrea has somewhat of "cute sorority girl" approach to writing, but get over it. If you can get beyond the tone, the content is definitely there.
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