Wine Books Makes Great Holiday Gifts

As much as we wine lovers like to get gifts of wine for the holidays, we also appreciate wine books. As you begin to think about what to get the wine devotee in your life, here are a few suggestions.

"The Grapes Grow Sweet: A Child's First Family Grape Harvest," story and illustrations by Lynn Tuft, with text by Tessa DeCarlo (Rivervine Press, $20), will help get that future wine aficionado interested in the vine. It is a delightful story of the first year Julian, the fourth generation of a family of grape growers, is old enough to help his mother and father with harvest. Colorfully illustrated, the book brings to life the lifeycles of the vineyard both for children and parents. Now in its third printing, the author has added a coloring book companion ($5, coloring book only, $8 with crayons), "Julian's Vineyard Adventures." It devotes a page illustrating each month of the growing year, with additional text describing the happenings in the vineyard and Julian's adventures.

"Small Plates, Perfect Wines: Creating Little Dishes with Big Flavors," by Lori Lyn Norlock (Andrew McMeel Publishing, $17), would be nice for the foodie who is also interested in wine. it is a timely release given the growing interest in small plates - whether they be called tapas, antipasti, mezes, or antojitos. The book is a collaboration with the Kendall-Jackson culinary team, led by Executive Chef Justin Wangler. Fifty delectable recipes are organized into chapters covering salads, vegetables, seafood, meat, poultry and desserts. The recipes also are assembled conveniently into sample party menus reflecting the seasons and various special occasions. Of course, I'm equally interested in the wine pairing tips provided by Kendall-Jackson Winemaster Randy Ullom. After wisely noting the subjectivity involved in wine pairing and counseling that the best advice for pairing food and wine is "to just enjoy yourself," Ullom does offer "a few guiding principles." Like seeking balance in both the food and the wine. With no component too prominent, the possibility of clashes is diminished. Or applying the affinity approach, which matches food and wine with the same kind of intensity or the contrast approach, in which one chooses food and wine that compliment each other. In case you still are unsure, there are specific pairing suggestions, catalogued both by grape variety and by recipe.

"The Art of Terroir: A Portrait of California's Vineyards," photographs by George Rose and text by Rod Smith (Chronicle Books, $25), is another offering from Kendall-Jackson. What a great coffee table book. The focus is on the 85 pages of evocative photos of vineyards stretching along California's coastal regions. The close-ups are enlightening in their detail. The panoramas of the landscape photos are simply breathtaking. While George Rose's photos visually depict the terroir of the vineyards, Rod Smith's essays are an inspired guide to how the vitis vinfera vine "gathers in various forms of energy and captures them in its fruit." At the beginning of each chapter, Smith's poetic descriptions illuminate the influence of those energy sources - light, air, water, rock, air, and cultivation. If you have found all the talk about the significance of terroir to be a little bewildering, this fine book will help bring that concept to life.

"Passion on the Vine: A Memoir of Food, Wine, and Family in the Heart of Italy," by Sergio Esposito, with Justine and der Leun (Broadway Books, $28), is a personal chronicle of discovery and respect for tradition. A highly regarded authority on Italian wine, Mr. Esposito operates Italian Wine Merchants in Manhattan with co-owners Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich. While the book mostly describes his travels throughout Italy drinking great wine, eating great food and meeting the extraordinary people who create them, it also interweaves intimate stories of his relationships with his family, friends and business acquaintances. Having been born in Naples, he recounts the unhappy experience of emigrating to Albany, New York and later anxiously moving to a small apartment in Manhattan. There, he naturally was drawn to a career in wine, which included a sales job at the House of Burgundy specialty wine shop and formative time as sommelier at San Domenico, one of the best Italian restaurants in the country.

I often am put off by books replete with tales of gustatory excess but Esposito's stories are worth telling. The core relationship that weaves through all the others in the book is that of the authenticity of food, wine, and family. That this elemental association has informed his life is illustrated in Mr. Esposito's accounts of his frequent trips back to Italy. Along the way, he gains a renewed appreciation for the traditions of Italian winemaking and cooking. With the help of co-author Justine van der Leun, the book goes beyond recitations of multi-course, multi-hour meals filled with rare, expensive wines to touch real insights into the worlds of fine wine and dining. The reader is treated to illuminating recitations on the realities of the wine trade, the power of critics, controversies over traditional vs. modern winegrowing and winemaking methods, and the loss of traditional, regional Italian cuisine. In the end, one has gained an understanding and appreciation for Italy and for what Esposito calls 'the Italian way" that belies a long history of stereotypes. That alone makes this book worthwhile.

Please note that you can find these books on Amazon and other bookstores in your area.