First off, my thanks to GoodReads and the U of CA Press (Go Bears!) for an ebook ARC. My apologizes for it taking me so long to get to it!
But every now and then I like to pick up a book on wine and give it a read. I do have a collection of about 800 bottles, mostly CA, and some other New World.
Goode was a scientist for years before he came to wine, and while he does emphasize that angle when writing about wine (he has other books out on wine - again, emphasizing the science of it), he realizes it is not an objective subject, or all "just the facts, ma'am".
I have some minor disagreements with him - I think most any wine maker is concerned with earth and soil, and one of the first things they do before buying a parcel of vineyard is to taste it themselves and have it tested.
Also, he never really defines what an "interesting" wine is. A term he uses constantly.
Although I do like that he hammers down the point that wines should taste like their locale.
I am not a big fan of "big" wines either, but I have drunk (drank?) more than a few, but don't get his "sweetness" complaint about them.
When talking about the wine market segments (and I appreciate his appreciation of the part marketing and sales plays in any wine company) I wish he had also included "mid-range". Those wine drinkers who don't go for the "cheapest", or the expensive wine with a cult following, but a mid-range priced wine, about $20-60. There is some quality there, and large part of the wine drinking community as well. I find them to be more inquisitive, even if not being wine "experts" themselves.
His quick description of yeast and fermentation has been the best explanation I have had of that pricess yet!
He considers himself a rebel of sorts. And to some degree he is (he hates Parker ratings, but also realizes they are necessary - but they have also become inflated). And his "chapters" on tastings are helpful as well. "Double blind" tastings are great - but it is later when you know what the wine is that you can appreciate it even more.
Mostly talking about French wines, I do wish he had named more names when criticizing some wine making,
An enjoyable read over a couple of evenings. He is at his best when he does what he stresses in the last chapter - tells stories. And, a nice, acerbic at times, humor about him.
I may go read another of his titles.
4 out of 5.

Just not my cup of... wine.
The book is well written, but that's about it.
I didn't like it. Although I really wanted to.

Not what I expected but interesting. Full of knowledge but didn’t necessarily feel or read like a guide.

“The Goode Guide to Wine” is the newest book from long-time wine blogger, prolific and well-regarded British author, Jamie Goode that sees release in September. Having a PhD in plant biology, most of his books to date generally focus on the science of wine as well as various aspects of winemaking. Quite interesting stuff for those of us interested in the topic which is why this title posits something of a change in that it’s more philosophical in nature, more as something designed as a discussion starter. It’s a book presented as his own, personal “guide” to wine. Definitely a hefty undertaking which I was quite curious to read it.

Upon having finished the book, I had to take a moment to think about how to best describe it given that it defies general definitions and doesn’t really fit into any one genre of wine book. What I ultimately came up with is that if you like Jamie’s Twitter account, then you’ll most probably like this book.

That’s admittedly a bit of a strange statement but I can’t think of one more apt as the chapters in this book are overall exceedingly short (maybe 3-5 pages in general) and read much more like slightly fleshed-out tweets than anything else. I mention this as for some time, he’s posed tweets that don’t really take a stance one way or the other, but are put out purely with the idea of generating some kind of debate–that usually drifts into polemics. I’m sure that there will be those who find not just this short snippet format, but also the content appealing and perhaps this rapid-fire churning of words is exactly what some people want in a book in this day and age of social media as well as constant distractions. I have to admit that I’m not one of them and I avoid this approach to Twitter (and even more so in writing) as much as possible.

I prefer much more developed and well-argued thoughts in a text and I’m not really finding this here as this is not really an in-depth essay. I was particularly frustrated with the tendency of whenever something had a hint of getting interesting, getting towards taking a stand or making an argument, it often ended with an abrupt sentence like, “Soil matters”, or “Make your wines taste truer. Not nicer.”, or “This is a problem”, or something else just as pithy. I suppose it’s to be expected from a book which has the subtitle of “A manifesto of sorts” in that ideas may be presented which then don’t really stand up and carry through to the “declaration” aspect of an actual manifesto, playing much more to the “of sorts” bit. There’s just no commitment and really getting behind anything as shown no better in Chapter 20 where he says, “I score wines, but I don’t like scores.” That’s not really a stance one way or another.

I’m rather surprised given that Jamie Goode’s last full-length book (besides his foray into fiction), “Flawless” was much more in-depth and continues to be a go-to reference in terms of understanding wine faults. I don’t find that sense of authority, despite a lot of the text feeling like it’s talking down to me. While there are perhaps some scattered portions on natural wine that people may like, I could never find a real thread, overarching theme, or really anything to grab on to and sadly feel as if I’ve come away from reading it with nothing more than I had going into it.

Again, for those who follow and enjoy his Twitter and blog, this is light read that will most likely appeal to you along the same vein.