The Essential Scratch & Sniff Guide To Becoming A Wine Expert: Take a Whiff of That

Cute gift for wine lovers. The scents are surprisingly accurate!

Most of the reviews have described this book as a great gift but I actually wanted it as learning tool. I am a newbie to the world of wine and I'm trying to improve my palate.I don't mind that it looks like a child's pop-up book because the information is very good. For example, I didn't realize that only certain red-color fruits are found in red wines, that is, the author explains that you won't find lemon or pineapple in red wines. This is news to me because I thought any fruit aroma was game to appear in any wines. Narrowing the field for me helps, but this is where the author stops short! On the page where he talks about red wine, there is an illustration of the fruits and then the scratch and sniff thing, but not one mention of the fruits! There are illustrations of cherries and what looks like strawberries, but not one fruit is mentioned by name, even though the title of this section is "What fruit do you smell in red wine?" It would have been nice to be able to name some of the fruits.By far the most disappointing part is the scratch and sniff. They were just too faint to get any sense of what I should be smelling. If the picture weren't there, you'd have little idea what you were smelling. With many of the illustrations in the book there are quarter-size, clear stickers on top that supposedly carries the aroma. At first I thought I was supposed to remove the stickers and the smell would be underneath, but I think there would have been instructions if that were true. Not every illustration has a sniffer. In all, these are the aromas that are available in this book: pear, mixed fruit, red fruit, black fruit, stone fruit, another pear, vanilla, dill, dirt, leather, bacon, butter, and grass. Towards the end Mr. Betts talks about, and there are illustrations for what to look for in faulty wine such as wet dog smell, burnt rubber and mold. Where are those sniffers? It's like teaching bad words in a foreign language class -- you need to know the bad stuff in order to recognize them when they occur.I have a lot of respect for this area of expertise especially after I saw the documentary, "Somm". The information in this book is very clear and arranged in a way that makes the wine tasting journey not so vast and never-ending. Mr. Betts says that all wines fall into four main categories and the explanation of terroir is clear. I appreciate the different and big fonts, the colors and the illustrations. But I was actually a serious purchaser of this book for myself since my palate is so poor; I actually want to identify the gooseberries (inside book joke) someday. I've purchased other wine books of course and I'm taking an online CSW class (living in a very small Southern town, no wine tastings here!). I hope he comes out with a second edition!

This book is an easy to follow guide to understand what you are smelling and tasting as you educate yourself in what the different hints, scents and tastes one can experience in learning about the wines of the world. Scratch and sniff as you read about the wines. It may take you awhile to distinguish each scent one smells as each of us has a difference in how one "smells" certain scents. Bottom line each of us knows what we like in certain wines--namely, how it tastes --we will define that wine as tasting GOOD regardless of how the author has described what we smell.

I've been tasting--and drinking!--wine for decades. My friends tend to think of me as something of a connoisseur. But when I read descriptions like "undertones of rose petals beneath burnt shoe leather" I roll my eyes.This book, on the other hand, oversimplifies, decomposing wine into a handful of aromas. I think that's a good starting point, and I applaud the author for cutting through the crap of wine puffery. But there is another level or two of subtlety beyond this book, and it won't make you an "expert".In format it's a 22 page board book, much like you'd give a small child. But the text, as well as the subject, is grown up. It walks you through the basic categories of wine smells--the biggest components of taste--and lets you "scratch & sniff". As such, it's a great starting point for understanding wine.What's peculiar is that while the author does noble service in cutting through the pretense that surrounds--and inflicts--wine tasting and wine descriptions, he feels the need to posture his brief, otherwise excellent, introduction as a guide that will make readers experts. In that, he's actually pretentious in attacking pretension.If you are a beginner trying to understand what wine people are talking about, this book is a good starting point, as well as a good corrective to snobbery. But it's not an expert guide.

When a friend showed this to me, I just had to have it. I have Italian relatives that are consistently stunned by American culture, and are very snobbish about their own in comparison. Yet they live here, in the US. Why? Because Italy is chaos - beautiful and delicious, yes, but absolutely chaotic, and far from perfect. And all they talk about is food and wine, constantly - all speaking at the same time around the table. I love them to be sure, but I prefer the States. We have fun here. And things like this book are conceived and marketed and successful here. It's brilliant. It's what makes this country great.Anyway, this book is bound to be a scream at parties, and our Italian friends won't believe this book exists unless I can show it to them. I have no illusions that it will serve any other purpose other than to entertain my friends. If you really believe this will teach you about wine and make you an "expert", then uh... good luck to you. The drive-thru is about two miles down on the left. : )All we need now is a scratch and sniff book on sex education . . . oh wait . . . didn't something like that come out in the 70s?

Stumbled upon this book on a New York Mag list of inexpensive gifts to get for the wine lovers in your life for Christmas. As the wine lovers in my life have the means to treat themselves with many high quality tasting and serving products, I often struggle to find something they haven't bought for themselves! My aunt joined a monthly wine club during COVID, and this book was the perfect gift for her- and us as a family- to use while enjoying and sampling the different wines she gets each month. Cute illustrations, a perfect mix of trendy and informative- great Christmas gift success!

Simple pero didactico

Bought as a present for a vineyard owner. Very fun! And I’m told true to likeness!

Es un libro básico cuyo valor agregado principal es el "Scratch & Sniff" sin embargo en el libro que me llego los olores son apenas perceptibles o en muchos casos nulos.No lo recomendaría ni lo volvería a comprar. Por el mismo precio hay libros mucho mejores.

Far too basic for my needs, although the book describes itself as such. The product listing however will lead you to believe you are getting so much more information.The book covers wine tasting very well, and if you wish to find a wine for yourself it will do this. Perhaps so would some free resources online however.Topics not covered: history, ageing, pricing or the infamous “dry” description.Overall, I don’t regret the purchase but I didn’t get what I was expecting and now need to make a subsequent purchase.

Book arrived long before expected date. Liked the look and content, but as bought as a gift, don't know how accurate the scratch and sniff part was.