Overhead shot of white wine in glasses
friends cheering with champagne
Imagine you’re attending a wine tasting event held at a fancy restaurant or other venue.
Wine bottles
As you flit about the room, tasting delicious wines and speaking to winemakers, you might make notes about the flavors of the wines you taste.
tasting wine brought by the sommelier
That Pinot Noir from Burgundy, you realize, has aromas and flavors of berry and cherry. The Cabernet Sauvignon from the Napa Valley has bold flavors of blackberry and some spice.
Merlot clusters and leaf
Yet you realize that many participants do not simply make notes in their booklet. They question the winemaker about things you may never have considered.
very special red soil for vineyards
You hear a man asking the winemaker about the type of soil in the vineyard. Soil, you might think to yourself, how can vineyard dirt affect the taste of a wine?
Drinking white wine in the city
Then a woman points to a bottle of Sonoma Coast Chardonnay and asks the winemaker if it went through malolactic fermentation because of the rich, buttery taste.
If you’re the kind of wine lover curious to learn more about how soil type affects the taste of a wine...
Vineyard in the Provence,France.
and how the process of malolactic fermentation can enrich a wine as well as adding buttery flavors, Wine Science may be the book for you.
Sommelier making notes at bar counter.
Wine Science: The Basics of Grape Growing and Wine Making
Wine Science, written by Canadian wine authority Ronald S. Jackson, exists as that rare style of book technical enough to satisfy the needs of aspiring winemakers ...
She is tasting good red wine
... yet simple enough to be enjoyed by wine lovers just beginning their journey into the world of wine.
Reading room
At 960 pages, this book covers the basics of grape growing and wine making in a comprehensive fashion.
The book also includes many illustrations, definitions of technical terms, an index, and a glossary.
UC Davis
Though a required book in the UC Davis winemaking program, the author’s easy to understand writing style renders it appropriate for wine lovers without a scientific background.
Mr. Jackson breaks down complex topics so even technical winemaking processes are easy to understand.
A fence covered with rose bushes in full bloom , UC Davis, California, USA
The winner of the 2015 OIV (link) Book Award, this fourth edition can be purchased in either print or ebook format.
Though updated every four years or so, the core grape growing and wine making material remains constant.
A university student wearing glasses, attending an engineering seminar.
Both the ebook and the print book hover around $100 on Amazon, with (hard to find) used books slightly less expensive.
null
An advantage to the ebook is that you can make digital notes directly in the device.
Because the print book is so large and heavy, you will find it easier to read Wine Science on your laptop, tablet or mobile when you’re on the go.
null
Ways to Read Wine Science
This book can be read in many different ways.
One can read the book from the first chapter to the last, learning about grape growing and wine making in a consecutive fashion.
Pruning the grape vines
Beginning wine lovers will want to read in this manner, so they can experience the wine production process from the planting of the vineyard to the finishing (bottling) of the wine.
Close-up of a winegrower hand. Prune the vineyard with professional steel scissors. Traditional ... [+]
Students in various wine education programs might prefer to simple use the book as a reference...
Grape tree pruning. Pruned and trimmed for growth to harvest. View on bare winter vineyard after ... [+]
...accomplished by either consulting the appropriate subject in the index of the print edition, or doing a search in the digital edition.
Wine for all tastes.
Imagine you are interested in all the different styles of sweet wine from around the world.
Cropped shot of an unidentifiable man reading a book
In the ebook, you would simply click on the table of contents and quickly find the topic covered in Chapter 9, “Specific and Distinctive Wine Styles.”
Or if you have always wondered why a friend swears she gets a headache every time she drinks white wine ...
Chablis, Champagne and Chardonnay in glasses isolated on a white background
... you would simply look through the Table of Contents (or search bar) for the word “headaches...”
...and you will find this topic covered in Chapter 12, “Wine, Food, and Health.”
Wine Science: Physical and Ebook
The words "Wine 101" on a blackboard in chalk
The only weakness of this book is that there may be more information in it than the average wine lover will ever need.
Yet with this book you’ll be able to better understand the complex questions others ask of winemakers.
null
Better yet, you’ll be able to pose some stimulating questions of your own.
