The Top Wine Books for Wine and Food Lovers

Here is a list compiled for wine lovers of all categories, from the wine connisseur to the hipster, these are the books that will keep them reading and loving wine.

The know it all

Revered as the bible to wine know it alls, the Larousse Gastronomique has a lot of weird wine nuances along with recipes from the old country including jelled tomato soup and woodcock pate.

The Deluxe Food Lover’s Companion by Sharon Tyler Herbst and Ron Herbst is great for those on a budget who still want to give their beloved know it all a book full of wine facts and recipes. Contained within is more than 6,700 entries including comprehensive glossaries on cheese, liquor, wine, pork and more

For food show fans

Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child has once again been in the headlines with the film Julie & Julia. Recipes such as roast chicken steeped with port wine, and cream and mushrooms will be filling the head of your food show fan in no time.

Michael Symon’s Live to Cook: Recipes and Techniques to Rock Your Kitchen by Michael Symon of Iron Chef America is another good one for the Iron Chef fans who long to cook like the pros.

Wine Lover

Kevin Zraly’s Windows on the World Complete Wine Course is full of facts from a person who taught at the World Trade Center until September 11th. Wine lovers will get in depth information on the history of wine, types of wine, and pretty much any other wine fact that they can wrap their head around.

For the Hipster

For the hipster, any cocktail book will do. One of the better ones happens to be Mr. Boston Holiday Cocktails Wiley& Sons. Make sure to add some stylish to compliment the gift, because a good hipster knows that having the latest in wine glasses is very important.

For the Baker

Buy a copy of The Golden Book of Baking: Over 300 great recipes by Carla Bardi with Rachel Lane and Ting Morris (Barron’s, $35.99) for anyone who loves to bake. This beauty of a book is wrapped in a shiny gold foil jacket, and the edges of the pages are gilded, too. So very chic. (Look for The Golden Book of Cookies, too.) Trivia: Recipes are divided on a scale of one, two and three, according to difficulty. Tackle the threes successfully, and maybe you’ll find a second career working in a French patisserie. Maybe.

For the Novice

The heavy-duty Gourmet Today:More than 1,000 all-new recipes for the contemporary kitchen, edited by Ruth Reichl (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $49.95) will keep both neophytes and longtime cooks occupied for hours.

It’s best for newbies because– let’s face it–if someone cooks a lot, they probably already have a handful of these catch-all books.