Tracking friends’ opinions on the characteristics of various wines is the aim of this simple record-keeping book.
While dining with others, the author noted that the “personality” of various wines was interpreted differently depending on the taster. “Responses to wine are as individual as fingerprints,” he says. Here, he offers a “Record-Keeping Book,” in order to “gather the same information about each bottle that is to be put to the test” from each taster.
The book consists of a brief Introduction and two pages that discuss characteristics to look for in wine, such as aroma, sweetness or dryness levels, fruitiness and so on. The pages that follow offer charts in which to record information about a particular wine: its name, year, winery, where purchased and consumed, the type of food consumed with it. The chart then leaves spaces for the initials of up to eight individual wine tasters. Below their initials, tasters are prompted to check off the qualities they note in the wine being tasted: aroma (is it earthy, floral, spicy etc.?); sweetness or dryness; acidity (does it feel tingly, gravelly or wet in the mouth?); level of tannin (seeming bitter or dry), etc. An index page for the wine tastings also is included so the wines can be easily referenced later.
While the charts are handy, the book would be improved with expanded introductory chapters offering more context, including a more detailed discussion of the qualities of fine wine, as well as how to conduct wine tastings and how to consolidate the tasters’ comments into a final judgment about each bottle. As it stands, it’s unclear what users should do with the recorded information once the notes have been taken. A small but glaring mistake attributing a quote also misspells the name of Alexander Fleming, discoverer of penicillin.
While a more informative approach would improve this offering, wine enthusiasts may find this slim, easily transportable book a fun way to interact with peers.
Also available in hardcover and ebook.
