Windows on the World Complete Wine Course

by Kevin Zraly

The Windows on the World Complete Wine Course is simply the bestselling wine book in the United States—it’s a classic. And this new edition contains an additional 16 wonderful pages, including a featured supplement about the olfactory system and how it deepens our enjoyment of wine. Written in a question-and-answer format, the section is coauthored with Wendy Dubit, an expert on the subject. Plus, this unequaled volume retains all the invaluable information, fabulous illustrations, and gorgeous styling of the 20th anniversary edition. Wine lovers will still thrill to Zraly’s inimitable, irreverent style. As always, he answers every question about wine; offers the most up-to-date recommendations; provides advice on buying wine in stores and on the Internet; takes you on a country-by-country, region-by-region ratings tour of the latest vintages; and starts you on your way to becoming a wine connoisseur. Abundant full-color labels and maps complete the enticing picture. More current, more informative, more concise and precise than ever, this remains the wine guide against which all others are judged.

Genres: Wine, Nonfiction, Reference, Food, Cookbooks, Cooking, Food and Drink

304 pages, Hardcover

First published December 31, 1985

Reviews

[Eli - Bookworm & Vine · Rating 5 out of 5]

The edition I read was a bit outdated, but it was still a learning experience.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I haven't yet made my way through this book entirely, but my impressions at my current stopping point have me favoring the other wine books I have over this one, which is why I'm putting it down for now. I'm enjoying The Wine Bible by Karen MacNeil much more. For a book to help guide and inform you through your own tastings and wine in general that I really love is Andrea Robinson's Great Wine Made Simple. I'm sure ill pick this one up again in the future, it's just that I'm not that excited to do so.

I should also note that the multimedia functionality that this edition boasts is nothing more than a few very short videos (1-3 minutes) that tell you the same info already contained in the book. i was hoping it would extend the learning and the experience but, sadly, it falls short of the mark on this.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

You could learn a lot from this book if you really used it as a coursebook. I just did some skimming and still picked up a few things.

Relevant to me (a big Riesling fan) is some info on German wines:

Tafelwein: "table wine", lowest designation of German wine
Qualitatswein: "quality wine" can be QbA (from one of the 13 regions) or Praedikatswein (quality wine with distinction, the good stuff, no sugar added!)

Praedikatswein breaks down further:
Kabinett - light semi-dry wines
Spatlese - "late picking" medium-style more body and intense flavor
Auslese "out picked" ripe grapes selectively chosen, medium to fuller wine
Beerenauslese - "berries out picking" grapes picked individually for rich desert wines
Trockenbeerenauslese - from dried grapes comes rich, sweet honeylike (and expensive) wine

Look for four top regions: Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Rheinhessen, Rhinegau, Pfalz

Look for good years: 2001* 2002* 2003* 2004* 2005** 2006 2007
*exceptional **extraordinary vintage!

I'm a long way from being a wine snob, but if that's your goal, this book would certainly help you.

[Shelby Brynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another book I read for my wine class. This book was INFORMATIVE to the max! However, I thought it was packed with stuff I never knew even after taking a wine class last semester. I will say the beginning was very dense and a little hard to get into at first but I felt like this book had great diagrams and I loved the side bar information. I recommend this for anyone really getting into wine, beyond just being a beginner.

[Yann Trudel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! Lots of information, will come back every time I need to buy wine

[Charlie Arnedt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ideal entry level book for anyone who's curious about wine or is trying to break into the industry.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic read that condenses Oenology 101, 201 and perhaps even 301 into a single resource.

[Justin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Windows on the World is a great book for those just beginning their interest in wine. It includes a lot of great, succinct information on the subject of wine, winemaking, wine regions, and wine profiles. It’s very accessible and the quizzes at the back of the book (to be taken upon finishing each chapter) are great tools for retaining important information. The lists for other wine publications, auctions, events, suppliers of refrigeration and equipment, value wines from around the world, etc. were a fantastic and generous addition.

However, I have to say that I was more than disappointed in the sheer quantity of errors that littered this volume, both at the hands of the author and the editor. Many of these errors are minor (spelling and punctuation misprints here and there), but others can lead to confusion if not viewed with a critical eye. For instance, sloppy copy/paste jobs indicate the incorrect locations for certain wines/wineries (e.g. on page 286 the phrase “My favorite Cremant d’Alsace” is pasted from the previous page as the header for 2 regions in France other than Alsace).

The biggest issue I had was the discrepancy between Zraly’s written description of locations and their locations on accompanying maps. A few examples: (1) pgs. 197 & 204: a map shows Priorat lies due west of Penedès, but the text claims it’s to the south. (2) pgs. 254-255: Argentinian wine subregions are listed from “north to south” with San Juan listed 5th when it’s 3rd sequentially on the map. The text shows that there are 3 larger regions (which may explain the disorder), but they aren’t visibly shown. (3) pgs. 278-279: the map shows Champagne being due east of Paris, but Zraly describes it as northeast. (4) pgs. 197 & 278: there are 2 maps of Spain roughly 80 pages apart that show the Penedès wine region being in 2 different locations.

I may seem “nitpicky,” but as geography plays such a large role in the wine world I feel that the information being relayed should be accurate. We Americans traditionally aren’t great at geography to begin with; please don’t make it worse! :) That being said, I did enjoy the book and found it useful. More encyclopedic books like The Wine Bible are more my style, but I recognize that there needs to be a range in the amount of information presented!

[Daniil · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I picked up this book I expected it to be a be a “guide” to the East and complex world of wine. As a bartender, I find the wine industry to be one of the most fascinating and I am very eager to learn about it. At this point, I’ve read several books about wines and other alcohol products, took off/online courses and have decent amount of work experience selling and tasting wines.

This book, however, felt more like a buying guide for rookies without too much of explanations. There was more of “buy this, these are my favorite french wines” and less of actual information as to why ‘this’ wine is better than the other, why some priced higher, what are the differences in tasting notes, and so on. In this book there was a lot of name dropping and I felt like I am an idiot talking to someone who might be very knowledgeable about wines but have little patience to explain anything about them.

Of course, there were some gorgeous illustrations in the book, bits of useful information, and the writing style was quite pleasant, however, I will not come back to this book because I didn’t find any vital information for my profession which I might need to remind myself about.

With all respect to the author and the job he did, I will not recommend this book for people who want to start learning about wines or want to expend already accumulated knowledge.

[Tim Wake · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first foray into wine education, this is an attempt to do justice to the necessary complexity of wine while still being a relatively "simple" wine book. I've been advised that this is roughly the minimum amount I need to know about wine to be able survive, and after reading it, it's demystified a great deal for me.

Unfortunately, to properly internalize the information, another pass, much note taking, and the consumption of several hundred bottles of wine are in order. And this is a simple wine book. If you've read on wine previously, this may even be remedial, but it's excellent for a first outing.

Becoming skilled at something generally takes 10 years of practice, but I think that I'll manage to enjoy this.

This book is highly recommended, buy the latest available editions.
It's divided up into 8 courses and additional ancillary chapters, all of which deserve careful attention. Don't take the book too quickly; it was designed to be for an 8 week course.

[Tim Gannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the text for the Windows on the World Wine School. Started as a club activity for a private lunch club at the Windows on the World restaurant atop the World Trade Center. The response was so great, they opened their first class for consumers in 1980. Apparently, more than 18,000 people have taken this course.

Gives a brief overview of winemaking. It even has a chapter on sensation and wine tasting. It goes through wines of France, US, Germany, Spain, Italy and even brief mentions of Australia, Chile and Argentina. It covers red and white wines, champagne, sherry and port.

Thought it was a great overview for myself who has primarily been a beer drinker all my life.

[Winna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Purely bought for research. Had a hard time getting through the chapters on wine areas, although I love the little trivia about wine :)

I understand more about it now, such as how it's made, where it's made, which countries produce wine the most, flavor and scents, how to taste wine, and what a sommelier does.. also get to look at different wine labels, and skim through useful FAQs.

Wine lovers will definitely enjoy this book, put it in their library or coffee tables.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit on the basic side, but a useful quick & dirty overview of the world of wine. The paragraph headings are topical and relevant to the industry of the moment, but if keeping up with trends and changes appeals, it would make more sense to invest in a good monthly wine rag and build a library of classic wine reference materials.

[Nick Milinazzo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kevin Zraly has been teaching about wine for decades. He was the cellar master for Windows of the World for many years. This was a world-renowned restaurant at the top of the original World Trade Center building in New York City. In 1985, he published the first edition of this book. In 2020, the 35th anniversary edition came out with even more data and anecdotes. This is an in-depth book about wine: how it is made, the different varietals, their countries of origin, how to pair wine with food, and the author's favorite wines from all over the world. If you're just beginning to become interested in the subject, or if you just learning more about it, this is a great book to have. And whenever I read another wine book, aside from making me thirsty, it always makes me want to visit different wineries that much more.

[Alyssa Chen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I already have a natural interest in wine and wanted to learn more in depth about which regions were famous for what type of wines and why, and this book gave me a good overview of the wine landscape. It is set-up like a textbook with a lot of facts in each chapter so it reads like you are taking a wine course. While I found it fascinating, I did get lost sometimes in all the grape varietals, the grading systems, and lists of recommended, quality wineries. I had to review previous chapters to remember what certain terms or methods were and also research some of the grapes, regions and chateaus to really get a good understanding. Great coffee table / beginner wine course text book to keep going forward as a reference guide and as I continue on my wine learning journey.

[Kristina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a great primer on wines of the world that I picked up shortly after completing my first certification in wine and spirits. It definitely helped that I had a base level of knowledge, but found that this booked continued to add more to my understanding. I really have enjoyed reading this and referring back to it as I open new bottles. The content is well organized and easy to follow. I don't necessarily think you can get specific bottle recommendations from reading this, but will help you understand the regions and the grapes. For a more detailed option, I also like the Sotheby's Wine Encyclopedia.

[Renee Alarid · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great introduction to the world of wine and a whole lot more. This book is not only about history of wine and of the author but also about knowledge of what wine is all about. I have to be honest that I don't know if I would have read this book on my own because wine is so involved that I hid around picking up wine just by the labels. I recently took a class - Geography of Wine and this book was a must read for the class. It is so informative and so much knowledge that I even impressed myself the last time I picked a bottle of wine.

If you were like me and want to know about the subject of wine but do not know where to start, I would say to pick up this book and start reading.

[Richard Franco · Rating 4 out of 5]

An incredibly comprehensive book on everything about wine from around the world. Starting with history, ending with how to smell wine, pair it with food and it the middle an in depth description of the various types of wine, how they are made, with what grapes and what makes them different from wines of other places, regions or just the next chateau over. Plus all of this is presented in layman's terms which makes it easy to understand and not intimidating. Also contains one of the best lines I have ever heard about wine "The best wine to pair with your meal is whatever wine you like. No matter what!". Perfect!

[Alexandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Informative, to be sure, but widely disorganized which is strange for an educational book like this. The author also seems to pick and choose certain subjects to cover in detail for certain wines, but not even mention it for others (such as tasting notes or pairings). And give long lists of Chateaux in France and vineyards in America and then wants you to memorize four Chateaux in the quiz, but no vineyards, for no discernible reason, so you never quite know what is the important information. Overall, it’s a fairly good overview of the world of wine, but for how much this book is touted, I was expecting something a bit more focused.

[Cierra B · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was very informative about different wines, and I learned a lot from it. If anyone is interested in learning more about wine (the process, different kinds, location, labelling, food pairing, etc.), I recommend it. It is also nice that throughout the book there are references towards other books on wine if anyone wants to learn more about a specific region or what find out about/try some highly recommended wines under $30.

[Shawn P · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chock full of useful info about the subject of wine, this hardcover book is a worthy addition to the library of any wine fan, whether newbie or connoisseur. The major old and new world countries are covered, together with the important grape varietals. The Burgundy section cleared up a lot of my confusion about this esteemed French region.

[Sherrill Watson]

See reviews by both Tim's and Damiili. Written in 1989, from Windows on the World, at the top of the World Trade Center, New York. Hope Kevin Zraly survived.

A highly readable coffee-table book, yet detailed. Nice illustrations. Includes many labels from different wineries, but is dated, omitting many latent good wines, and restaurants that serve them..

[Adrienne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was recommended to me by my favorite person in the world: the wine lady at Wegman's, who knows so much about everything important (wine). It does not disappoint. You'll feel like some kind of an expert after savoring this book.

[Tony Margiotta · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an essential if you want to learn the basics about wine and all the important wine regions of the world. In particular, I love how the author breaks down how to taste wine and what to look for in a simple way. Anyone can do it and will enjoy drinking wine even more!

[Russ · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good balance of easy reading with detailed information. For someone with a little wine knowledge going in, it is easy to read through this one chapter at a time and then refer back to it later as a reference book.

[Russ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book for an intermediate-level wine enthusiast. It gives a good overview of the key wine regions of the world, including specific winery recommendations that are useful as a reference tool when purchasing wine.

[Bobby Blackwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a great book! It's learning and smiling at the same time. I'm new to the world of wine knowledge, though I have had my fair share over the years...... This book has jumpstarted my passion for the rest of my life.

[Ian MacIntyre · Rating 5 out of 5]

I very much enjoyed this book/study guide/class. Lots of detail, tasting notes and ideas. I particularly like the idea of Component Tasting - understanding taste, smell, and tactile sensation. Great idea for an activity with friends.

[Sara Stewart · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars! Helped me pass my introductory sommelier exam so can’t ask for much more than that. This is a great reference for people new and experienced in the world of wine and gives a broad yet detailed overview of all the most important wine regions in the world.

[Magnus Nordin · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are much better books on wine out there

Yes, this book contains some basic knowledge of wine, but it’s dated, and it felt like reading a PowerPoint slideshow. Also, very US centered.