The Wine Savant: A Guide to the New Wine Culture

Author: Michael Steinberger

Rating: ⭐ 4/5

Date Read: 2014/01/15

Pages: 208

Lots of books about wine follow the same path: they talk about terroir, then about the wine-making process. They’ll probably pontificate about oak, then explain malolactic fermentation and complain that too many budget wines are unbalanced due to residual sugar. Following a few chapters of that, they say “Cool, so you know about wine now, why don’t you go out and buy a Bordeaux first growth,” as if we all have an extra thousand bones to just drop on a single bottle.

The Wine Savant is a refreshing respite to these sorts of wine books. Case in point: Steinberger starts out by telling people that it’s okay to be a little bit snobby about wine. There’s no need to take the super humble route at dinner parties, telling people “Hey, it’s just fermented wine juice” because it’s not just fermented wine juice, and we all know that. That’s not to say that you should be an asshole about things, but there’s no reason not to take ownership of your knowledge. After all, music lovers don’t dismiss fantastic performances as “just” sound waves.

The short essays in here really are fabulous, especially for those of us who love wine (maybe not for those who don’t). Steinberger, like most of us, extolls the virtues of Pinot Noir and Riesling. He talks about the ascendency of Burgundy and the decline of Bordeaux. California, of course, is a complicated subject, but fabulous wineries such as the legendary Ridge get their due. There’s also talk about Globalization, Parkerization, and value.

Steinberger’s book is quite opinionated, but that doesn’t mean you won’t learn a thing or two (plus, you’ll probably find plenty to disagree with, which is always fun). I’d definitely recommend this for anyone who tastes, quaffs, guzzles, or otherwise imbibes.