I appreciated Asimov's approach on enjoying and learning to love wine. Basically he says embrace wine's ambiguity and just explore. Eventually you will learn by discovering what you like. Wine is best explored with food, friends and occasions. He also disdains the overblown tasting notes (hints of tobacco! floral accents! spicy undertones! serve with grilled eel!) and the wine-scoring system which can be a handy guide for consumers but also doesn't recognize other wines that can be of equal or better value and quality. A low-key and friendly approach to learning about wine, much the way I decided to undertake it when I started getting into wines. ( )

Review as tasting note:

Virtually colourless. Bitter aromas reminiscent of sour grapes and dirty laundry. Thin, flat and somewhat oxidized with a short, dilute finish. Drink by: yesterday.

(More seriously: there's just nothing new, interesting or meaningful here. Both Asimov's complaints and his enthusiasms are very old news in the wine world and I doubt there's a previously published book out there that hasn't covered them already, likely with more flair and greater thoroughness. I generally enjoy Asimov's work at the New York Times but this book is a brief magazine article padded into a very thin, exceptionally dull vanity volume. There's little reason to read this much less to buy it. Spend the cash on a wine you like instead.) ( )

Asimov, Eric. How To Love Wine: A Memoir and Manifesto. WM: HarperCollins. 2012. c.272p. ISBN 9780061802522. $24.99. HOME ECON

Many wine-lovers wonder, as they are poured wine to taste from the bottle they have just ordered, what exactly they are supposed to do. “Wine is one of the coolest things in the world. To love it is a great joy. Why do we make it so hard?” asks Asimov, chief wine critic of the New York Times, as he muses on the anxieties that befall today’s wine lovers who just want to enjoy a pleasant drink. Not only does he share his takes on the changes in the industry, scoring, and tasting, he also highlights key moments that led to his love of the grape, which steered him to his enviable position. VERDICT Well written and interesting; a good choice for beginning wine enthusiasts.—Jane Hebert, Glenside P.L. Dist., Glendale Heights, IL

http://reviews.libraryjournal.com/2012/12/books/nonfic/sci-tech/science-technolo... ( )