Essential Reading

For the fledgling wino, reading is essential to furthering one's wine education when access to unlimited funds for travel and bottle purchases isn't available. Realistically, most of us will spend more time reading about the world's iconic wines and wine regions than we will spend experiencing them first hand. Thus, the right book is paramount to making the most of that virtual experience or help you focus in on what your hard earned cash will go towards. With 100's of wine reference material to choose from, where to begin? Below is a list of my favourite wine books in print today.

Books

The Wine Bible
Karen MacNeil's biblically long book is an amazing reference to the world's key wine regions and styles. Where it may lack in up-to-the-minuteness, it booms with essential, unchanging facts about the major Old World and New World regions.

Making Sense of Wine Tasting
Alan Young looks to deconstruct how our senses react to every stimuli that wine offers up. Detailed, very informative and well illustrated.

The Wineries of British Columbia
No one has covered the BC wine industry in more depth than John Schreiner. With each edition he elaborates on the growing BC industry, keeping you up-to-date on the wineries in every viticultural region. Absolutely, the definitive guide to BC wineries.

Pearl of the Côte
Allen Meadows' beautifully photographed account of the often amazing and always much lauded wines of the Vosne-Romanée AOCs. If this book doesn't make you want to shell out for a 1er Cru, than nothing will.

The Billionaire's Vinegar
Not a reference book, rather a non-fiction account of 1980's excess and international forgery within the posh world of wine rarities. Reads like a novel with loads of intriguing information about America's first wine writer, Thomas Jefferson and mind boggling facts about the crazy collectors that have helped drive-up the price of Claret.

Magazines

Decanter
Simply the best. No ones covers Bordeaux, the Rhone, Italy and Spain better than Decanter. Subscriptions are very expensive in Canada, but you can purchase one-offs at most Chapters locations. The yearly June edition is a must for all Bordeaux lovers.

Vines
Great coverage of both BC and Ontario wines with the occasional story about other emerging regions like Nova Scotia. Buyer's Guide section will help you choose your next bottle (assuming it isn't covered by us, of course).