Top Cookbooks' review:

   Weighing approximately 7 pounds with over 750 pages of information, this is by far the most comprehensive book on the topic of wines available on the market.  

   If you have ever needed to know more about wines, their origins, tasting practices, food pairings, or which part of Italy your bottle is from, then you would love this book.  Exploring Wine is actually a textbook  from The Culinary Institute of America, and would  make a fantastic gift for the wine enthusiast in your life, aspiring chef, or for your own personal library.

  Exploring Wine is extremely well organized by geographic location and includes maps, charts, and other lovely illustrations that both help the reader soak all of the information in, while adding the quality look and feel that a book of this caliber deserves.

I highly recommend this book and give it 5 spatulas.  Check out Amazon.com for a great price on this book. 

-Elaine Russo, TopCookbooks.com

Table of Contents:

Foreword.

Acknowledgments.

PART 1: FUNDAMENTALS: GROWING GRAPES, MAKING WINE, AND TASTING WINE.

Chapter 1: The Right Stuff: Grape Growing and Grape Types.

Chapter 2: How Wine is Made.

Chapter 3: Tasting Wine.

PART 2: WINES OF THE NEW WORLD.

Chapter 4: United States: California.

Chapter 5: Beyond California: Wines of North America.

Chapter 6: The Southern Hemisphere.

PART 3: WINES OF THE OLD WORLD.

Chapter 7: France.

Chapter 8: Italy.

Chapter 9: Spain.

Chapter 10: Portugal.

Chapter 11: Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.

Chapter 12: Wines of Eastern Europe.

Chapter 13: The Eastern Mediterranean and Asia.

PART 4: WINE, FOOD, AND HEALTH.

Chapter 14: Wine and Food.

Chapter 15: Wine and Health.

PART 5: WINE SERVICE AND STORAGE.

Chapter 16: Wine Service.

Chapter 17: Purchasing and Storage.

Chapter 18: Wine Lists.

Appendix A: Conversions.

Appendix B: How to Read a Label.

Appendix C: American Appellations.

Appendix D: Vintage Charts.

Glossary.

Bibliography.

Index.