Best Wine Books We Recommend
As my Grade 11 English teacher told, you can only learn so much from the internet. Sure, that's changing, but for now its still hard to guarantee the veracity of so much of what you read online. A safer option is often to delve into the rigorously researched and edited wisdom of experts from the around the globe, published in print. The world's leading wine minds have all written books, and we've condensed them down into a helpful list for you.
Best for beginners--red
Who better to guide you through the tricky first steps of wine infatuation that someone who has been there, done that, bought the t-shirt and then stuck with it for their entire lives. Chris Morrison is a writer, sommelier and plain old-fashioned wine lover, and his book This is Not a Wine Guide is a great place to start. It’s about saying goodbye to silly jargon and hello to fun wine experiences.
Best for not beginners--aromatic
So you know a bit and want to level up? One lady in particular has got your back - JR, aka Jancis Robinson. One of the first women to pass the stupidly hard Master of Wine exam ever, she is probably the best-known wine expert in the world. Her Oxford Companion to Wine (both the long version and the condensed) are brilliant, covering just about everything you need to know, from Albarino to Zweigelt, and all that's in between.
Best for getting inside the head of a sommelier--racy
Sommeliers will tell you that they, not chefs, are the real rockstars. This is blatantly untrue, as chefs use their hands to create, whereas sommeliers merely curate. Despite this, great sommeliers are forced to be quite talented - linguists, historians, exceptional tasters and well versed in the arts of food and wine matching.
One of the world's more famous sommeliers is a man by the name of Rajat Parr, and his book, co-authored by Jordan Mackay, Secrets of the Sommeliers, gives a great insight into what makes them tick and some of the things that excite them.
Special mention also to Jane Lopes' Vignette, a deeply personal take on high level sommelier work, and all the drinks that go with it.
Best for maps--aromatic
Maps help to 'lock in' where various regions are, and what they grow, and there's no better book for it than Hugh Johnson & Jancis Robinson's epic work The World Atlas of Wine. It is a deep read, and is definitely a reference as opposed to sit down and go page by page, but the knowledge in there is top shelf. Of note, and in the same vein, is the James Halliday Wine Atlas of Australia.
Best for Australian wine--cellar
For a perfect entree to Australian wine, we think Jane Lopes & Jonathan Ross have done an excellent job with their wine guide, How to Drink Australian Wine. Detailing the how, where and why, this has grape guides, maps, producer stories, plus more, without ever feeling pretentious (which wine books have a habit of doing).
Best for Australian Wine History Lovers--racy
Max Allen is a big voice in Australian wine. That statement makes it sound like he shouts a lot or thinks highly of himself when both are so far from the truth. By big voice, we mean big brain, and Max knows how to tell a yarn. His books are wonderful journeys into the people behind the history of wine. For a great snapshot of Aussie wine, dive into The History of Australian Wine. You won't regret it.
It took over a decade, but Master of Wine Andrew Caillard’s Australian Ark is perhaps the finest antipodean wine history book ever written. Lovingly spread over three volumes, this heavyweight series gives such colour to the Australian wine legends, harking back to the very dawn of wine landing on a sunburnt land to the colourful modern era. Full of surprising stories and punctuated by long-forgotten photos, this is a superb way to go even deeper on Aussie wine history.
Best for Wine History Lovers Everywhere--earth
Imagine uncovering a secret multimillion-bottle bunker that held some of the rarest old wines in the world. Stalin’s Wine Cellar details the journey of intrepid Australian wine merchant and traveller John Baker and his hunt for a mythical wine cellar that once belonged to Stalin and now hidden in a Georgian winery. Part history lesson, part treasure hunt, this entertaining book takes you on a proper journey while appealing beyond just wine lovers.
Best For French wine--red
Some French wine books feel more like encyclopaedias, others love letters to France, leaving The New France is something in between. Written by the brilliant Andrew Jefford, this multi-award winning guide has all the maps and information to lose yourself in the French details of terroir and appellations and the producers and stories that make these regions magical.
On a very different French wine note, Wine and War paints a wonderful picture of the crafty ways that vignerons kept their wines away from the marauding Germans in WWII. Hidden vaults, amusing scams, the lot. Part history lesson, part pure entertainment, this excellent book also details how winemakers kept crafting great wines even during the worst of the war, showing how resilient anyway can be when fuelled by great wines.
Best for natural wine--plum
No-one (including us) has really got a nailed-down definition of what natural wine is. Perhaps that's part of its charm. Before it was the full-blown discussion piece (and long before 'clean wine') it is these days, journalist Alice Feiring was championing low-interference wines from across the globe. Her book Naked Wine - Letting Grapes do What comes Naturally was published in 2011 and is a great place to start to get a handle on just what natural wine might or might not be.
Best for philosophy--earth
Wine writing can err on the side of boredom, and more than occasionally. Silly tasting notes, extreme jargon... you know the type. If instead you prefer your wine writing with a worldly outlook and a positive spin, pick up Andrea Frost's wonderful Through a Sparkling Glass for a wonderful wander through the world of wine. You won't be disappointed.
Best for comedy and drinking--wines
Sir Kingsley Amis passed away in 1995, but left a sizeable collection of work on all matter of subjects, including wine and drinks. A collation of some of his funnier works is Everyday Drinking, which is certainly written in the English humour style, but has aged well and is a great laugh. Doesn't take itself seriously, but is full of tidbits.
Best for Grape Nerds--aromatic
It’s very deep and wine geeky, but the Wine Grapes book by Jancis Robinson (wine queen popping up again), Jose Vouillamoz & Julia Harding is the grape bible (and it’s excellent). Detailing an astonishing 1368 winegrapes, this will have you craving little-known Greek reds and bizarre Swiss orange wines just because they exist. What makes this book magnificent is the eye-watering detail. Araignan Blanc and Zakynthino? Just the start…
Best for Australian Grapes That Aren’t Shiraz--cork
The ever-clever Max Allen loves an offbeat story. His book Alternative Reality launches into the evolution of non-mainstream wine grapes in Australia and the story of the applaudable Australian Alternative Varieties Wine Show (AAVWS). Good Pair Days is proud to dive deep into the pond of wine styles beyond the usual suspects, and Max details how these wines came to be in Australia with a book that makes that glass of Fernão Pires taste even better.
Best for Wine Crime--plum
Scams and frauds are undoubtedly one of the scourges of our time. From deep fake celebrity mugshots to scam SMS about your unpaid toll notices, scams, frauds, and fakes are everywhere, including wine. In Vintage Crime, English journalist Rebecca Gibb takes us deep into the world of wine fraud, documenting the inventive, mischievous, and sometimes evil ways of wine scams, from watered-down wine to the disturbing use of lead to make reds more palatable. You won’t look at a wine allergens list the same way again!
Best Wine Novel--cellar
The Felix Hart series of wine-themed novels have been entertaining since the start when the first Corkscew novel dropped back in 2017 (well worth a read). Now, four books in, and the latest book in the series Eastern Promise by Peter Stafford-Bow is just as likable. The story here revolves around wine buyer and sleuth Felix Hart, who keeps getting thrust into unusual (wine) situations at various locations around the world. Light-hearted and fun, this has enough clever inside wine industry bits to keep somms like us happy, but without getting stuck into vinous esoterica.
About the Author
Banjo Harris Plane is the three-time winner Sommelier of the Year Australia and a certified advanced Sommelier through the Court of Master Sommeliers. He first cut his teeth in the wine industry working as a sommelier in Australia's best restaurants, before starting multiple businesses in the space of a few years... these included two restaurants, a wine import business and co-founding Good Pair Days!