The study and enjoyment of wine can be a lifelong passion: Insight gained now can bring pleasure for years to come. We are often asked what we would recommend to people looking to expand their wine knowledge and over the years we've gathered a list of suggestions. Though spring is coming, it's not too late to consider some of these resolutions for 2003.
1) Buy a few great wine books:
We have more than 100 books in our wine library and some go for years at a stretch without being opened. But three volumes are almost constantly in use and we highly recommend them as the basis for any wine library. Jancis Robinson's "Oxford Companion to Wine" is to wine what the OED is to the English language -- comprehensive, weighty and the ultimate reference book. Hugh Johnson's "World Atlas of Wine" is an unrivaled collection of maps of the world's wine regions, an essential resource for those studying terroir, as well as armchair travelers. Finally, for easy-to-understand explanations of the most-complicated topics, "Wine for Dummies" by Master of Wine Mary Ewing-Mulligan is unparalleled.