The most recommended wine books

That Night in Paris is the second book in Sandy Barker’s Holiday Romance Series, which is packed with beautifully described holiday destinations and the will-they-won’t-they moments we romance readers love. In That Night in Paris, Cat books an impromptu European coach trip in desperation after she has a few too many wines and sleeps with her flatmate. And what a decision that turns out to be when she bumps into her long-lost teenage crush in Paris.     

Cat’s on my dinner guest list because she’s feisty, fun, and oozes sass, while at the same time having a more vulnerable side that would get the deeper conversations going by dessert. Sometimes strong women who are confident and outspoken (in a good way) can be criticised and labelled negatively, but women like Cat should be applauded for being real. 

The 1855 Classification created quality tiers for wines from a number of districts in Bordeaux: the famous First Growth (Premier Cru) wines and their Second, Third, Fourth, and Fifth Growth counterparts. There’s been only one change since then (a Second Growth promoted to First) and people still pay high prices for these wines based on a ranking that is more than 150 years old. Dewey Markham’s book tells the story of the Classification and shows that the wines that topped the list in 1855 were also ranked highest in earlier lists and that the rankings were based on price rather than intrinsic quality. It’s a well-documented book that brings history to bear on the way we look at some of the most prestigious wines of Bordeaux.  

I adore wanderlust romance, and this book is no exception. It transports you to the City of Lights and immerses you in a totally adorable love story.

It is definitely on the spicy side, but all that heat is backed up with plenty of heart–just the way I like it! This addictive book is a quick and easy read that pairs well with wine. What more could you ask for?

I admire James Gleick’s Chaos. Who doesn’t? It’s a landmark book, a masterpiece of science writing. But let’s be real: it’s not exactly a beach read, is it? If Chaos is a complex aged wine, then this book is a simple autumn cider: a photographic collage of nature’s fractals, sweetened with a splash of Gleick’s lyrical prose.

I love memoirs written by farmers and gardeners. This book is nonfiction, but it reads like a well-written book of short stories. 

Growers of the grapes, grains, and agave used in the wines and spirits we enjoy face a new challenge. A vintner has maybe 30 to 40 harvests in a career. Even one year of crop failure due to too much or not enough rainfall, temperatures too high or too low, or destructive fires can be disastrous. Farming has always been like that but not to the degree it is now. 

This book has it all. It’s a travelogue, it’s short stories, it’s science, it’s suspense. I don’t drink, but I loved this fascinating read. 

I have long loved Robert Camuto’s writing about living in Italy and the wines and winemakers he’s discovered. My own food and wine awakening happened while living and working in Italy, so naturally I gravitate to books that take place there or tell the stories of others who’ve chosen to live there against all odds. Robert Camuto’s newest book South of Somewhere has quickly risen to my list of favorites. In this evocation, he traces his own history back to the town of his ancestors, and the relationship that evolves from a life-defining memory of a childhood summer in this village to his exploration and understanding of it as an adult. His work captures the essence of Italy, Italian life, and Italian wine: “the chaos that gives birth to inspiration”.

From chapters on the nostalgia of that Southern Italian childhood summer to a series of portraits of winegrowers from Italy’s… show more.

Alice’s book is a manifesto against homogenization, wine consultants, and 100-point scoring systems.

She travels to the Loire and Champagne in France, to Piedmont in Italy, and to Spain. She reveals what goes into industrial wines, the mechanical treatments like reverse osmosis, and the additives like yeasts and enzymes, tannins, sawdust, and oak chips.

This book is an excellent compendium of anecdotes, interesting people in the wine world, and why natural wine is good. You’ll learn about the world of wine, but especially about the world of wine through the lens of Alice Feiring’s passion, natural wine.

I love books that delve deep into seemingly small topics, like the best-sellers Cod and Salt, on subjects we take for granted.

The author, who has written several history books, here chooses six beverages through which he does indeed tell a history of the world, by linking each beverage to a time period. Only one is spirits, the others being beer, wine, tea, coffee, and Coca-Cola.

Again it's aimed at the general reader, not the specialist, and is an entertaining journey down the centuries. It zips along and is packed with those quirky 'I never knew that' facts.

I write about beer, cider, spirits, and cocktails. In fact, I'll write about almost anything that will get you drunk, plus a few liquids that won't, but I don't write about wine. That's my off-duty drink, the one side of booze I don't need to know about beyond asking myself whether I want more of the wine in my glass.

So you could say that for me all wine is from another galaxy. It can seem too big, the world of wine. Too deep. Too stuffy. This book makes it fun again, makes it fresh and exciting. I almost want to learn about the stuff, despite my best efforts not to!

After reading this, I feel I'd happily follow Dan Keeling and Mark Andrew into any cellar to swill and swig the hours away.

A Draught of Ash and Wine is the sequel to A Bargain of Blood and Gold.

The series tells the story of the unlikely team-up of a vampire and a hunter, as they navigate an intricate world full of fantasy creatures and solve mysteries. John and Vic are one of my favorite fictional power couples. This mutual struggle to be as careful and as attentive to the other as possible is what I live for in an MM romance. Their chemistry was instantaneous, yet excruciatingly slow burn.

In this second book, their relationship unfolds, while a few secrets come to light. I laughed, and I cried while reading.