Top 10 Wines Australia and New Zealand

Want a good, fast easy read to learn about the top wineries and wines from each region in Australia and New Zealand in 140 pages or so? This is the book for you. Vincent Gasnier is a talented sommelier with a knack for writing about wines in a very interesting and compelling manner, making for great reading. He's written a series of 4 brief, but informative overview books, covering the top wines from France, Italy, Australia and New Zealand, and the United States. All are easy reading, ideal for reading in short bursts of time as well as informative and enjoyable. This book on Australian and Kiwi wines offers a brief historical overview of wines in both countries. Then, it presents a brief section on each region, including a general description of the region, the winemakers, wineries and top wines. The top 10 for a region can take the form of multiple top 10 lists such as Top Blockbuster Australian Reds, Top 10 Fruity Australian Wines, Top 10 Fabulous Desert Wines, Top 10 Great Shiraz Producers, Top 10 Magnificent Celebration Wines, Top 10 Australian Wines for Everyday Drinking, Top 10 Outstanding Small Producers, Top 10 Best Kept Secrets in Australian Wines, Top 10 New Zealand Wines for Everyday Drinking, Top 10 Great New Zealand Pinot Noirs, and many others in addition to the Top 10 wines in each region. It also features brief (2 to 4 page) sections on Wine and Food Matching, Buying and Storing Wine, Wine Tasting, and one on Wines Styles, a popular approach gaining in usage that breaks wines into category profiles. For example, white wines are classified into the following categories: 1). Crisp dry light bodied; aromatic to flowery, dry to medium-sweet; tangy or steely medium bodied; and full-bodied, rich flavored. Grapes typically make wines in one of these categories (although chardonnay grapes, for example, may overlap two categories depending on the winemaking style employed). Generally someone who likes a certain style of wine might appreciate the appeal of other grapes making wines in this same style or category. This section also lists the Australia and New Zealand wines that would apply to each of these categories. The majority of the book focuses on Australia wines before taking on the topic of New Zealand wines in 27 pages. While Australia produces a vastly greater quantity of wine than New Zealand, the emergence of New Zealand wines could merit a bit more coverage than the author provides. Still, the New Zealand overview is reasonably adequate. I highly recommend this book for anyone seeking a basic overview of Australian and New Zealand wines. The author has a nice ability to explore a topic briefly, yet still provide valuable information. Gasnier is one of my favorite wine authors. If there were an award for adequately conveying a useful overview of Aussie and Kiwi Wines - along with wine information in general - in the least number of pages, Gasnier would surely win it. I am pretty knowledgeable about wine and still f