Matt Kramer's Making Sense Of Italian Wine

There are some great reviews here of this book. The only thing I can add as someone who loves Italian wine is Matt Kramer does a great job with the big job he has given himself and tells you as much in his introduction. I thought the first 3 chapters were excellent with the philosophy of being Italian. Each chapter simply covers the basics of Northern Italy's wine giving you producers who are good at that particuliar wine. I would recommend this book as a primer for the real beginner. God read.

This is a wonderful book. I was already familiar with many Italian wines, but my knowledge and experience with them was scattered. This book put so many things into perspective for me. I went to Italy for the first time last September and now reading this book, I can look back and better understand and appreciate what I saw then. The organization of the book is outstanding. The book has identified several wines of interest which I have now tried with great enjoyment. Kramer's writing style is not only informative, but he can turn a phrase and I found my self smiling at several points and then found myself looking for the next clever piece of writing. This book has also triggered a desire to learn more about Italian wines and I have started reading the Joe Bastianich book as a follow up. This book is a home run.

Matt Kramer provides a good perspective on Italian wines and winemaking. Although not a comprehensive encyclopedia of Italian wines or vintages it does provide a solid and understandable description of major and minor wine varieties. My only complaint...the typos are rampant and inexcusable.

This is a great book, even though it is not as ambitious as the California and Burgundy books. Matt Kramer focuses on the most important and easiest to find Italian wines, but he really gets to the bottom of what makes them great, or not. If you want to know why a 20-dollar Chianti normale from a great producer is way more exciting than a 200-dollar Sassicaia, you must read this book! The only downside is that the book is not a complete guide of Italian wine. For that, you can get Vino Italiano. But Matt's informed, intellectual view of Italian wine is unique, and really irreplaceable. If you love Italian wine, you must own this book.