The Best Books on Wine and Food in 2023

We’ve read and reported on several books on wine and food this year.  The following is a selection of books we highly recommend.

Italy by Ingredient by Viola Buitoni.  The focus of this book is on using fresh ingredients to prepare flavorful food.  The recipes are “doable” by the average, experienced cook and the food photos are spectacular.  Here’s our review.

Riojas Vinos Silenciosos by Alberto Gil, wine correspondent for La Rioja, and Antonio Remesal Villar, a professor at the Universidad Pública de Navarra. If you are interested in the latest developments in Rioja and if you read Spanish, this is a must-have book, especially if traveling to Rioja is somewhere in your future.  Read our review here.

Finding Meaning in Wine by Michael Sinowitz.  If your interest in wine goes beyond simply drinking it and if you like reading intellectual debates about winemaking and wine tasting, this book is stimulating, unlike any other.  Our review can be found here.

The New French Wine: Redefining the World’s Greatest Wine Culture by Jon Bonné.  The San Francisco Chronicle’s former wine editor has written a two volume treatise challenging that country’s appellation system and recognizing the creative winemakers who don’t quite fit in.  An original book from this erudite writer.  The publisher is Ten Speed Press.

Platter’s 2024 South African Wine Guide.  For over three decades, this has been the most comprehensive, authoritative annual guide to South African wine.  The high quality of South African wine has been “discovered” by the European press, and more of it is arriving on North American shores.  The on-line version of Platter’s Guide can be subscribed to here.

The Rise of Napa Valley Wineries by Mark Gudgel.  The 1976 Judgement of Paris put California wine on the map and brought forth radical changes in the vineyards and wineries of the Napa Valley and elsewhere in California. This well-researched book is a history of Napa Valley wine that almost all wine geeks will find fascinating.  Published by History Press.

The Wines of Georgia by Lisa Granik.  We recently visited the Kakheti and Khartli wine regions of Georgia, and this book was our guide to the grapes, regions, and wineries of that country.  Almost everything about Georgian wine is new to those of us used to drinking wines from French and Italian varieties made in the modern, European method.  This book is essential reading to anyone wanting to learn about Georgian wine. The publisher is Infinite Ideas.