Making Sense of Wine. By Matt Kramer

Over the past several years Crystal and I have really started enjoying wine. At first it was really only sweet wines like Riesling.  But the more we drank, the more we have seen our palates change and expand.  We then ventured on to other whites and reds.  Now we will pretty much try anything.  But isn't that the point?  Well last year for my birthday, one of the books Crystal bought me was Making Sense of Wine by Matt Kramer.  At the time I though, "oh, this could be interesting"  not really giving the book much though.  Since I had received a number of other books, I just put this one on the shelf.  A couple of weeks ago, after I finished Good to Great, I picked this book back up.  I'm not sure what I was expecting from this book, maybe talking about specific wines or how to taste and what to look for, though it had some of that, it was so much more.  This book is basically a history of wine.  Matt talks about everything thing from how varietals are native to regions, how the wine making process has changes over hundreds of years, to how bottling, shipping, and distribution has changed.  Even from a business stand point it was very interesting.  He talks about how over the last 50 or 60 years, America has really changed the wine landscape.  How traditionally native grapes have been pulled up only to be replaced by more popular varietals.  He wraps up the book concluding that there is no wrong or right about wine, whether it be serving temp, wine glass selection, or specific winery.  It all comes back to your personal palate and that wine was meant to be enjoyed with food.  This is an excellent book for those that want to increase their knowledge of wine quickly and well.  Even if you don't drink wine, but enjoy history and culture, this is a very worth while read.