Oz Clarke's Introducing Wine: A Complete Guide for the Modern Wine Drinker

Welcome to Introducing Wine, Clarke's contribution to the overcrowded wine primer field. Subtitled "A Complete Guide for the Modern Wine Drinker," this 3-chapter, 144-page glossy tome liberally sprinkled with color photos is designed for the reader looking beyond a wine shop's old reliables. Part I deals with wine flavors: Oz's aforementioned 15, ranging from "juicy, fruity" to "ripe and toasty." Part II takes on wine enjoyment--buying, storing, opening, serving--while Part III serves as a grapey gazetteer of the world's wine regions.

It's a delicate job Introducing Wine in such confined space, but Oz is a good host: witty, learned, and only occasionally schmoozily vague. A "buying" discussion flits about, touching on e-tailing, futures, and mixed-case discounts for half a page; other paragraphs sparkle with wine descriptors both enchanting ("face cream" and "beeswax") and confounding ("damsons" and "lanolin"). Clarke's capable of both enlightenment (warnings include such terms as "reserve" or "superieur") and overkill: if your retailer sells more Lucky Strikes than Lynch-Bages, you needn't Oz to tell you it's a "bad wine shop." Copious opinions, too, can raise eyebrows or shrug shoulders: Pinot Gris "always" exhibits a hint of honey? Zinfandel is California's "all-purpose" grape? Easier to swallow is Oz's assertion that French vin de table can be "pretty much anything that won't kill you." Helpful in Part III are the Quick Guide sidebars explaining regional jargon and suggesting wines, although recommendations from California and the Pacific Northwest are uninspired--a rare Introducing Wine instance where plain vanilla mixes into Oz Clarke's jamocha almond crunch. --Tony Mason

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