How to Read a Wine Label
If you want to read more about enjoying and learning about wine, the Wall Street Journal's Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Brecher are a great choice. One review called them "the ultimate anti-snob expert." They believe wine is something for everyone to enjoy, not just those who have the time to learn about all the intricacies of the French appellations and the money to buy only the expensive bottles. You sometimes see their column in City Scene, but not frequently enough, in my opinion.
Here's a great piece they did last week in their "Tastings" column on how to read a wine label -- what to look for when you have nothing else to go on. For instance, they note that, "In the past few years, there has been a profusion of inexpensive wines with cute animals on the labels. ... especially when it comes to less-expensive wines, we'd avoid wines where the cute animal seems to be the main point of the wine. A humdinger of a tale about the animal is often a clue that this is a wine to avoid."
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123154196043169491.html
If you like their column, here are a couple of their books:
Love by the Glass: Tasting Notes from a Marriage, their memoir about their own romance and how they grew to love and be experts on wine.
Wine for Every Day and Every Occasion: Red, White, and Bubbly to Celebrate the Joy of Living


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