BOOKS

BIG RED WINE BOOK

If you’ve ever asked your host, ‘This white wine is lovely but do you have any real wines?’ then The Big Red Wine Book – released on the first day of winter – is the wine guide for you.

The Big Red Wine Book will save red wine drinkers money. It’s 40% bigger than last year (and looks much, much better) and as we say in the book’s introduction:

‘For a wine lover, it was the ultimate silver lining: when the financial crisis hit in 2008, we set out to turn the 2009/10 edition into a great bargain hunt. Through the months of travelling and searching and tasting and writing, our biggest priority has been that a wine be great value, as well as tasting great.’

The Big Red Wine Book covers all red wines – from the bargains to the best, from big Barossan reds to more delicate pinots noirs. With wine-drinkers becoming more environmentally conscious, this year’s edition also includes a new chapter on Organic and Biodynamic Reds.

But as serious as it all is, The Big Red Wine Book – unusually for a wine guide – even includes a smattering a humour. We love their reds, and we hope the enthusiasm shows. We don’t dislike white wines, we simply believe that most white wines taste good – but reds need a bit of research.

The Big Red Wine Book (Hardie Grant) has an RRP of $24.95, and should be available in any bookshop worth its salt.

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WHY THE FRENCH HATE US (The real story of Australian wine)

Here’s what Gary Walsh wrote about it on Winorama (before he’d merged with The Wine Front):

“Provocative title no doubt, but it’s not really about whether or not anyone likes ‘us’, but rather more about the state and status of the Australian (fine) wine industry. It is full of personality, honesty and insight. Often funny, very informative, sometimes rude, and as with most things Mattinson, intensely passionate and personal. Entertaining too. I don’t agree with some of it, and it perhaps it could be more cohesive (if you were looking for an argument), but I loved reading it. So much so that I’ve just picked it up and started again; now that’s a recommendation.”

TO ORDER A COPY of ‘WHY THE FRENCH HATE US‘ …

The 384-page book is available for immediate delivery by simply returning the french-book-order-form via fax 03 5756 2162 or to PO Box 541, Porepunkah, Vic 3740.