Wine by Style: A Practical Guide to Choosing Wine by Flavor, Body, and Color

A quick summary: a wine-flavoured white, red or rose weighing around 750 grammes net is better than any amount of "yellow wine". Other helpful suggestions include how to chill wines (the fridge is my preferred mechanism) and how to drink them (from the bottle is considered poor form in the enclosures on Royal Day at Ascot, as I found to my cost.)

The author has divided the wine world into a manageable numberof intuitive categories. There is also sufficient detailto distinguish wines within a category. Try some of thewines in each classification. When you find some you likeyou'll have discovered many more you will likely enjoy.Beyond the author's clever taxonomy is good introductorymaterial on the basics and beyond. A great reference anda fun roadmap!

I have really enjoyed having this book. It's a joy to read and doesn't require me to go from cover to cover. It's not an exhaustive study, but rather has enough information to get me started in understanding a particular style. The book is divided into sections on each style (medium-bodied reds, full-bodied reds, rarities, dessert wines, etc) and in each section she provides an informative listing of the better-known wines in that style. The book itself is of very high quality and has lovely photos so it's fun to flip through.