Andrea Robinson's Wine Buying Guide for Everyone: Featuring More Than 800 Top Wines Available in Stores and Restaurants

I like to buy a 12-bottle box of red and white wine at a big-box beverage store about once a month, and this book is my companion to take care of this chore as quickly as possible. The selections at said store are always changing, but I can always find good bottles at good prices, using this guide.

I had bought the 2006 edition of this book and found it very helpful. This one is set up identically and works great. There is even a countertop test rating for how well wine ages once it is opened. My only quibble, there is a line that you can write in your notes, but it's pretty small. The descriptions of the wines are simple, not pretentious, and the user feedback is nice to have. Bonus, the book is slender enough to fit in a purse and have on hand when shopping.

The last time I got this guide was in 2007. The 2009 verison is FAR improved! It has been changed to the 100-point rating system that almost everyone understands, it has vintages which, as we know, can vary greatly from year to year and it gives an average price which is very helpful when shopping. The key to her symbols is on the inside flap and the back flap has a very helpful vintage chart that tells which years were good and which were not. That said, now to the good stuff. Have you ever met or seen Andrea Robinson do her thing on TV? If you have, you're familiar with her down-to-earth warmth and friendliness. It comes through in this book. Andrea really knows wine and, if it's in this book, it's either a prime example of its kind at that price point, or better. There are also choices from really inexpensive so that you can find something nice and not spend much to the hundred or so dollar range if you've got someone to impress or if you're at the point in your wine drinking where you want something really good and are willing to pay for it. And everything in between. The format is simple and clear and Andrea packs this handy guide full of all kinds of information that will indeed make your trip to the wine store much more fun. I took the guide to a large warehouse-type distributor and found they had many of the wines she recommends (though some of their wines were by the same winery but a different level and some were different vintages - BE CAREFUL!) I wound up with a case full of her recommendations which I've been enjoying with my friends. So far not one dud! I highly recommend this to anyone wanting some help and good information for purchasing their wines.

A great buying guide if you're interested in wine and the price isn't bad either. I take it to the store whenever I'm shopping for wines.