Uncorking the Mysteries of Wine: A Journey of Discovery Among the Passionate Sommeliers, Big Bottle Collectors, and Scientific Researchers Who Showed Me How to Live for Flavor

Ronin63: This book combines tradition, science and great writing to deliver something that we give the reader, an insight into the world of wine as well as human behaviour and biology. Really enjoyable read.

France on Sep 28, 2023

AMB: Great read if you want some insight into becoming a sommelier.

United States on Sep 25, 2023

Eimante Mazeikaite: Not your average ‘let me tell you about wine book’! The author has shared her experiences really well and is relatable. It’s an easy and an enjoyable read.

United Kingdom on Sep 01, 2023

Barry D Brooks: You learn to taste not only wines, great and small, but to taste EVERYTHING with care, with your brain. That is a changed life.

United States on Aug 17, 2023

Mark E. Tippery: This is a book for both wine lovers as well as others who have ever wanted to pursue a passion or dream outside their current career or life endeavor. The story focuses on a technical writer/editor's pursuit of the world of wine and specifically taste and the pursuit of the Sommelier designation. It is a wild romp through the behind the scenes vinous world and the quirky, committed and deranged personalities that inhabit it. It provides insight into the Sommelier role and specifically focuses on building superior tasting capabilities and to the service expectations and regimen of the role. There is humor as well as tension and explores a wide range of perspectives, from the flamboyant to the scientific personalities that inhabit this world. If you like a great glass of wine you will appreciate this book, and if you don't currently, it just may make you want to try one!

United States on Nov 10, 2022

W. Frazier: There’s a ton of great information in this book - about wines and restaurants. I strongly suggest a hard copy format, particularly for the first half of the book. I was on the audio version and yearned for a Sharpie highlighter, there were so many gems. The book then segues into wine production and tastes, and mass market appeal. It’s here where the author seems to lose some interest, and I lost interest as well - although the subject is fascinating. The book ends as the author hurdles the rigorous exam to be sommelier-certified. The writing is strong and focused, rich with facts and supporting details, also flavored with colorful cohorts and their anecdotes. The author gives a clear voice to her audio book.

United States on Aug 28, 2022

Amazon Customer: Just enjoyed the topic and the easy read

Canada on Apr 05, 2022

Doxycycline: So there's this curious tribe of people out there who live, Live, LIVE for wine! And not just for the alcohol either. They're into everything about wine... the tastes, the odors, the history, and the traditions. They even go so far to as to claim that a single sip of a good wine can transport them to faraway places and introduce them to thoughts and feelings that that they'd never experienced before!

It's like being a bibliophile... but for wines!

Ms. Bosker writes about this tribe, their cares, their concerns, their everyday lives, and their all-consuming passion in a sympathetic and deeply probing manner as she, herself, seeks to gain admittance to their ranks. One comes away with a deeper understanding of oenophiles and what motivates them.

A marvelous introduction to a group of people I previously did not understand!

United States on Dec 20, 2021

Liam Kelleher: Journalists are a breed of people I struggle with. Their role is undeniably important in unearthing bodies and stories, but half the time you find out they buried them it the first place, just to get a scoop.

Bianca Bosker catapults herself blindly into the wine world, not caring who she takes out en route. She intrudes into the lives of sommeliers, wine makers, restaurateurs and scientists to get her story. She has done an admirable job in distilling - or rather milking - so much of their knowledge.

She seeks to answer a couple of big questions. Is the wine industry just full of BS? How hard could it be to become an accomplished sommelier?

Like all things in life, the answer isn’t so straightforward. There is no doubt this is an informative book. The insight into becoming a sommelier will be familiar to those who have watched Somm. Blind tasting a wine can lead people to the right answer - the colours, the acidity, texture, viscosity, notes etc. I found the chapter on her discussions with the cheap producers quite interesting and the chemicals they use to ensure the wine they serve is always purple, sweet and under 10 bucks.

But so much of this book...

United Kingdom on Jun 01, 2020

Tim Haslam: A fascinating journey into the obsessive, punishing and occasionally arcane world of new York's sommelier scene. Bianca dives headfirst into the fine dining restaurant environment to discover why sommeliers put themselves through such ridiculously long working and learning hours to sell wines to customers who regard them as little more than glorified servants. On the way, she encounters personalities to whom OCD would be a compliment, discovers how smell & taste are under-rated and undervalued senses, and encounters service rituals that would make the Freemasons look prosaic.

This book will interest anyone with a genuine interest in wine & hospitality. As a former wine manager in a hospitality business, I found some of the service stories all too familiar. The slog of studying for the Court of Master Sommelier exams & the intensely picky & rigorous nature of the testing is well explained, and I particularly enjoyed Bianca's research into the scientific nature of taste and smell, demonstrating how humans can become better tasters. I found some of the patronising comments about wines customers ordered a bit jarring, and anyone who isn't at least a bit of a...

United Kingdom on Sep 17, 2017