What are the essential books to get started
in the world of wine?

To get started: the best books to learn to taste, choose the right bottle, discover aromas, grape varieties, food-wine pairings, appellations, understand the work of the winemaker from the vineyard to the cellar... :

• Wine for Dummies, 12th edition, Éric Beaumard (vice-best sommelier in the world) and Catherine Gerbod, Editions First, price 22.95€

• Wine is not rocket science, Ophélie Neiman, Editions Marabout (19.90€)

"New edition, revised and expanded of the #1 best-selling wine book since 2015! Wine finally explained and simplified because it is not reserved for an elite that only drinks grandpa's wines! Enriched with champagne wines, natural wine, extended maps; it has become a reference. Ophélie Neiman is a joyful lover of wine, neither an oenologist nor a sommelier. Far from specialists, she wanted to talk about the wine that we open at the table, surrounded by good friends. She offers a pleasant and - for once - easy discovery of the wine world."

• Wine for those who know nothing about it, Ophélie Neiman, Editions L’Etudiant (13.90€)

"You remain as silent as a carp in front of a glass of wine? Learn to talk about wine, to pair it, and above all, to love it! (in moderation)." What do you think of this wine? What types of wines do you like? Unless you are a seasoned connoisseur, it is highly likely that you will have difficulty answering these questions. The opposite would be surprising.
Because if you have the awkward feeling of being a fool when it comes to describing a wine, it's simply because you are normal. Forget your complexes with Ophélie Neiman who will help you find the right words. Discover the world of wine – and how a simple grape gives an exceptional vintage – learn to pair dishes and wines without a false note – and why Bernard the lobster loves bastards – start your cellar with wise advice for small budgets."

• The super easy wine, Madeline Puckette, Justin Hammack, Editions Marabout (15.90€)

To buy wine without making mistakes and to build your first wine cellar

Or even discover gems and the best value for money, find the great vintages that you must taste at least once in your life…

• The 100 best wines for an ideal cellar, Éric Beaumard, Editions First (2.99€)

« Building your wine cellar has become one of the favorite hobbies of the French. This fully updated Little Book is aimed at wine lovers who want to easily and affordably create an ideal cellar, allowing them to have the right wine for all occasions and to accompany all types of dishes."
In this cellar, you will find wines to keep and wines to serve. Drawing on his years of experience, Eric Beaumard explains where and how to buy, store, and serve your wine. He gives the amateur many tips and tricks to build their ideal cellar. Depending on everyone's tastes and budget, he proposes 100 must-have wines. For each of his wines, he indicates which dish it pairs with, its serving temperature, its aging potential, etc. "

• The wines of my life, Éric Beaumard, Edition de la Martinière (29.90€)

"Discover the tasting secrets of a renowned sommelier."
The Wines of My Life presents the 75 wines that have forever marked the existence of Eric Beaumard, an extraordinary taster: Pétrus, Château Ausone or Lafleur in Bordeaux, the domains of Romanée Conti or the wines of Jean-Baptiste Bouzereau in Burgundy, those from the Rayas and Grillet châteaux in the Rhône valley...
Eric Beaumard is one of the best sommeliers in the world. He was named best sommelier of France in 1992, best sommelier of Europe in 1994, and vice-best sommelier in the world in 1998. He developed the cellar of La Poularde by chef Gilles Étéocle, two Michelin stars, which he left in 1999 for the adventure of George V. There he completely composes the cellar and, at the head of his team, works closely with chefs Philippe Legendre, then Christian Le Squer. In 2003, he was elected Sommelier of the Year by the magazine Le Chef. He is the director of the famous restaurant Le Cinq, at the Four Seasons George V in Paris, two Michelin stars, and today manages the cellars of Four Seasons establishments in Europe.

• How to build your cellar, Philippe Faure-Brac (best sommelier in the world), Edition E/P/A (12€)

« Building a cellar is an art that has its requirements. Philippe Faure-Brac, in 52 chapters, as many weeks as there are in a year, discusses French and foreign wines, from the most prestigious to others less known, that make up in this book his ideal cellar. He explains the basics, which first obey the rule of diversity, that of wines - red, white, and rosé - that of production regions and that of storage - long-lasting wines, medium or moderate aging.
Magnificently illustrated, this book also shows how the exciting adventure of building your cellar is primarily a matter of pleasure for the enthusiast, that of sharing wine with others. »

To make the best food-wine pairings, whether classic or surprising:

• The great course of food and wine pairings 100 lessons to create gourmet pairings like an expert from the University of Wine of Suze-La-Rousse, Hachette Wine Editions

FOOD AND WINE PAIRINGS WITHIN EVERYONE'S REACH
The University of Wine of Suze-La-Rousse presents a complete course on food and drink pairings.
1/ The theory:
- Information to remember;
- Clear and educational texts.
2/ The Practice: 
- Exercises and quizzes to put your knowledge into practice.

• Food & wine pairings, Olivier Bompas, Editions Hachette Vins (17.90€)

• The best food & wine pairings, Catherine Gerbod and Jacques Vivet (3.99€)

• Food & wine – 10000 pairings 1000 dishes, Jacques-Louis Delpal, Editions Artémis
  
  

To discover one's tastes, learn to taste, to talk about wine, to recognize aromas, types, and styles of wines 

• My first tasting, Pierre Casamayor, Editions Hachette Vins 2014 (19.95€)

"A step-by-step learning of tasting for the beginner enthusiast: appreciating wines in all their facets, with the eye, the nose, in the mouth, and talking about it with the right words.
DISCOVER:  The world of tasting; What wine contains
RECOGNIZE:  The steps of analysis: the eye, the nose, the mouth; Recognizing aromas; Perceiving the faults of a wine; Understanding the balance of a wine
LEARN TO TASTE:  The types and colors of wines: dry whites, sweet or liqueur wines, light or full-bodied reds, fruity rosés, sparkling wines, and natural sweet wines; Recognizing grape varieties
PRACTICE:  Advice for preparing the tasting: choosing the glasses, bringing the wines to the right temperature, uncorking the bottles and decanting them...; Practical exercises; Tasting sheets.

• How to taste a wine, Philippe Faure-Brac (best sommelier in the world), Editions Chêne (24.90€)

"In this book structured around 50 'lessons' that are done through exercises, easy to organize at home, and classified according to three levels of difficulty, from the simplest to the most complicated, Philippe Faure-Brac proposes to learn how to taste wine. Drawing on his experience as the Best Sommelier in the World, he proceeds as he does in the classes he teaches, leading the reader to discover the characteristics of wine, to recognize its specificities, to appreciate, evaluate, compare... He also teaches us how to organize a tasting, choose a wine, how to serve it, what flavors to pair it with to highlight its qualities, etc. The more experienced will find, with more difficult exercises, material to deepen their knowledge and refine their perception.
Regular sections (food-wine pairings, buying advice, etc.) provide a wealth of useful information.
Very illustrated, this beautiful book is also very practical: at the end of the work, indexes of the mentioned wines, grape varieties, a glossary, and a directory make it easy to find a wine, the explanation of a term or a concept discussed, and to purchase the wines recommended by the author.

• Wine: A Brief Treatise on Tasting, Jacques Vivet, Editions Bartillat, 2013 (4,48€)

• The School of Tasting – Wine in 100 Lessons, Pierre Casamayor, Editions Hachette Vins 2014

• The Taste of Wine – The great book of tasting, Emile Peynaud and Jacques Blouin, Dunod, 2013 (45€)

• You liked... so you will like… - Discover the wines you will surely love, Georges Lepré (master sommelier), Les Editions de l’Opportun (12,90)

"Discover the wines you will surely love. If you are tired of expert advice that does not take your taste into account. If you consider that choosing a wine is a game of chance or worse, Russian roulette, this book is for you! With a selection of 101 wines from all regions of France, Georges Lepré allows you to choose your bottles based on your tastes!
For each wine, 6 criteria are studied:
- Nose
- Mouth
- Grape variety
- Style
- Region
- The food/wine pairing
It is therefore a tasting journey that is offered to you in the mode of 'If you liked it, you will love it.'
Thanks to Georges Lepré, you will finally discover wines based on your tastes!
Georges Lepré is a recognized sommelier. He worked at Grand Véfour, then at the Ritz before working at Savour Club. An uncompromising taster, he is the author of several reference works in the world of wine.

For the natural wine enthusiast

• Grape - 100 Great Natural Wines of EMOTION, Cédric Blatrie, Guillaume Laroche and Harry Annoni (22€)

“Respect for people and love for the land create the greatest wines and the most beautiful emotions.
Natural wines are not just thirst-quenching wines. They are also great wines that provoke great emotions. These 352 pages are dedicated to them. This book presents a selection of 100 great wines made according to the rules of the art of our time that show that natural is also synonymous with emotional.
The two fundamental ideas underlying this work are to break the preconceived notions about natural wines (simple, fragile, imperfect, vague, do not keep...) and to pay tribute to the women and men who toil year after year to produce the finest grapes in the world that they vinify with their convictions, their talent, and their guts in order to produce wonderfully lively and intimately personal wines.

For the discovering enthusiast

• The Alter-Wine Guide – 133 extraordinary winemakers, Laurent Baraou & Monsieur Septime, Editions FB François Bourin

« Step out of the vineyards battered by marketing to discover another viticulture: less conventional, less polluting, more attentive, more inventive. With The Guide to Alter-Wine, Monsieur Septime and Laurent Baraou invite you to meet more than 130 winemakers and taste their extraordinary cuvées. Selected and presented in practical sheets, with technical data such as grape varieties, produced cuvées, or even planting density, these alter-winemakers all passionately defend a common treasure.
There is urgency: before wines meet the tragic fate of dairy products, meat, fruits, and vegetables, we must learn to uncover and savor these wines from alternative production. A unique guide, essential for all true wine lovers. »

For the lover of beautiful bubbles

• A scent of champagne – 8000 champagnes tasted and rated, Richard Juhlin, Editions Féret (24,50€)

« In this magnificent work, the author presents his personal journey through Champagne, and the relationships he maintains with this region. An exceptional taster, with an incomparable nose, he details all the finesse and subtlety of tasting, explains the different terroirs and their revelation during tasting. In a second part, he presents these 100 best Champagnes, and offers the enthusiast more than 8000 tastings throughout the famous or lesser-known brands of this great wine region.
A unique work! »

For the die-hard fans of Bordeaux wines 

• The Essentials of Great Bordeaux Wines with the Bordeaux Wine School by Sophie Brissaud, Editions de la Martinière (19,90€)

• The Bordeaux Wine Guide, Jacques Dupont, Editions Grasset, 2011 (37,99€)

• The good Bordeaux: 1500 affordable wines, Franck Dubourdieu, Editions Mollat/Balland 2003 (15.20€)

• Vinitop: Guide to the Peak of Great Bordeaux Wines, Jean Merlaut, preface by Jean-Didier Vincent, Editions Féret
  
  
• The great Bordeaux from 1899 to the present day, ratings, longevity, Franck Dubourdieu, Editions Mollat

For enthusiasts of Burgundy wines

And all those who dream of deciphering the complex universe of great Burgundy wines, understanding the names of its wonderful climates, and discovering the best appellations and estates of the region...

• At the Heart of Burgundy (Inside Burgundy), Jasper Morris, Hachette Vins (1^st French Edition price 50€ and 2^nd English edition 79€)

« More than 1,000 vineyards reviewed, hundreds of estates described and commented on, 35 maps of rare precision detailing the Burgundian mosaic, its 100 appellations, its climates, and its topography. Holder of the prestigious Master of Wines and buyer for a London trading house, Jasper Morris has been traversing Burgundy since 1981. He offers you here a compass to navigate this captivating and complex vineyard. The bible that was missing on Burgundy wine, signed by an international expert. »

• Climats and Lieux-Dits of the Great Vineyards of Burgundy - Atlas and History of Place Names, Marie Hélène Landrieu-Lussigny and Sylvain Pitiot, preface by Bernard Pivot, Editions de Monza and Editions de Meurger (price 69€)

 « 2,000 years of History of the Great Vineyards of Burgundy, whose fragmentation into multiple plots, known as Climats and lieux-dits, constitutes its originality! 2,000 years of History of the work of men who have managed to take advantage of the extreme diversity of geographical and climatic conditions to create an exceptional mosaic of hierarchical and world-renowned Crus! This history is told for the first time exhaustively through detailed maps of the 35 wine-producing communes and by explaining the origin and meaning of the names of the 1,463 Climats and lieux-dits! "In Burgundy, when we talk about climate, we do not look up to the sky, we look down to the earth," beautifully says Bernard Pivot. »

• Between the vines – free conversations with winemakers from Burgundy, Guillaume Laroche, Frédéric Henry, Harry Annoni, preface by Cédric Klapish (price 29€)

« This is an opportunity to give a voice to those who make the wine we love, freely, without taboo. These are 15 winemakers from Burgundy (Marie-Christine and Marie-Andrée Mugneret-Gibourg, Cécile Tremblay, Jean-Yves Bizot, Pierre Boillot, Athénaïs de Béru…) who express themselves in total transparency about their choices, their methods, their terroir. It is a year of work in the vineyards and in the cellars. It is 252 pages of texts and images highlighting the four seasons. It is a book for wine lovers, but also for all those who enjoy meeting passionate artisans »

• The wine of Burgundy, Jean-François Bazin, preface Aubert de Villaine, Edition Hachette (19,26€)

« Every year, two hundred million bottles carry Burgundy wine around the world. Just a drop of good wine in the ocean of vine products, but it expresses the soul and spirit of this exceptional vineyard that appeared twenty centuries ago.
This work paints a portrait of the Burgundy vineyard in all its aspects: historical, cultural, viticultural, oenological, economic, and social. Relying on detailed cartography and rich iconography, it tells the story of each climate of the vineyard, from Chablis in the north to Mâcon in the south, from the regional appellation Burgundy to the prestigious grand crus. It also opens up broad perspectives on the vine and wine to come in the 21st century, questioning the organic phenomenon, globalization, and the major issues faced by wine.
Written in a lively and warm language, clear and concise, it is the book that every wine lover must own. »

To "show off when you know nothing" 

• Antiguide to wine and vinasse, Stéphane Rose, Edition J’ai lu (6€)

« You have to decant the wine before drinking it" : who has never heard this well-chosen remark from a friend, a part-time oenologist? It is to shine in society that Stéphane Rose, a member of the Gérard of television, cinema, and politics, has concocted his Antiguide to wine and vinasse, which finally demystifies oenology. A title that already invites us not to take ourselves too seriously. While flipping through this humorous book, one thinks that soon we too will be able to create an illusion. »

To test one's knowledge 

• What are you worth in wine – 400 questions to test yourself alone or with friends, Robert Pujol, Editions Studyrama

For the politically engaged wine lover

• The hidden face of wine – Manifesto of good drinking, Laurent Baraou & Monsieur Spetime, Editions FB François Bourin

For the lover of literature and brilliant and funny bacchic chronicles 

• Loving Dictionary of Wine, Bernard Pivot, Editions Plon

« Written in the flow of memory, this Loving Dictionary of Wine is, in fact, a very personal book, filled with amusing stories and tasty anecdotes, of culture too, necessarily! In the Pivot family, the artist is the winemaker, brother Jean-Charles. Bernard, on the other hand, is content with the intoxication of words.
" I only mention in this Loving Dictionary of Wine what I know, love, and am passionate about. There is autobiography, readings, memories of winemaking, cellars, tables... Here is, however, the essential: wine is culture. The culture of the vine, but also culture for the mind. It is this cultural dimension of a universal consumer product that this book aims to remind us of, at a time when wine is not well regarded.
Perhaps one will be surprised that I often speak lightly and amusingly about a subject that moistens our mouth and our soul? It's my way of taking it seriously. I have cheerful wine. Why should my ink be sour, surly, or thick? There is an expression that well translates the social role of wine in our country: "honor wine". This Loving Dictionary would like to be a joyful honor wine. " B.P. »

 

• Bacchus and Me, Jay McInerney, Editions de la Martinière
  
  
• Romanée Conti 1935, Kaikô Takeshi, Editions Picquier Poche
  
  

For the scientific wine lover

• Why is a wine good? Paul Coulon and Philippe Abbal, Edition Dunod (45€)

So that the aromas of wine hold no secrets for you

• The nose of wine by Jean Lenoir, Editions Jean Lenoir (Box and book 300€)

"- Set in a very refined book-case, 54 aromas of high quality come to life in your olfactory memory and find a true resonance in great wines:
fruity notes: 1 lemon, 2 grapefruit, 3 orange, 4 pineapple, 5 banana, 6 lychee, 7 melon, 8 muscat, 9 apple, 10 pear, 11 quince, 12 strawberry, 13 raspberry, 14 currant, 15 blackcurrant, 16 blueberry, 17 blackberry, 18 cherry, 19 apricot, 20 peach, 21 almond (frangipane), 22 prune, 23 walnut; floral notes: 24 hawthorn, 25 acacia, 26 linden, 27 honey, 28 rose, 29 violet; vegetal notes: 30 green pepper, 31 mushroom, 32 truffle, 33 wine lees, 34 cedar, 35 pine, 36 licorice, 37 blackcurrant bud (or boxwood), 38 cut hay, 39 thyme, 40 vanilla, 41 cinnamon, 42 clove, 43 pepper, 44 saffron; animal notes: 45 leather, 46 musk, 47 butter; toasted notes: 48 toasted bread, 49 toasted almond, 50 toasted hazelnut, 51 caramel, 52 coffee, 53 dark chocolate, 54 smoky note.
- 54 playing cards summarize the real link between aromas and wines.
- A complete book, richly illustrated, accompanies you, offering multiple ranges to practice and learn to taste the wines of France and the world. A precious sum of knowledge and pleasure for professionals and enthusiasts.

And of course the essential buying guides that are published every year

• The Guide to the Best Wines of France 2022, The Review of French Wines
  
  
• New Bettane and Desseauve 2022: The best wines
  
  
• Hachette Guide to Wines 2022, Hachette Wines