In my experience, one of the best and most comprehensive series of cook books available are the “Cookery Bibles” published by Phaidon Press. Once you have these, you may never need another cook book again. I would highly recommend them for anyone who is a foodie at heart.

There are four books that I’m aware of, covering four European countries:

France: I Know How to Cook (Ginette Mathiot)

Italy: Silver Spoon (Various contributors)

Spain: 1080 Recipes (Simone Ortega)

Greece: Vefa’s Kitchen (Vefa Alexiadou)

Each have been massive sellers in their native countries, for their incredible collection of old, authentic cuisine, as well as being beautifully presented and easy to follow. Essentially, each book contains hundreds of recipes - starters, main courses, desserts and drinks - with contributions from top chef’s of the relevant countries at the end of each book.

There’s a nice section in the French book dedicated to wine, which shows how important wine is to the French dining experience. Naturally, the recommended wines are from France, but it’s interesting to note how certain dishes will partner well with wines of different appellations.

Some tips from ‘I Know How to Cook’

Oysters and Crustaceans: Dry white wine: Muscadet, white Burgundy and Traminer.

Roast Meat and Game: Red wines for roast meat must be high quality and should be full-bodied for red meat and lighter bodied for white meat. Bordeaux - Pomoral, Margaux, St. Emilion. Red Burgundy - Gevrey-Chambertin, Nuits-Saint-Georges, Pommard.

Foie Gras: In general, slightly sweet white wines or wines from regions of foie gras production are recommended. Try Sauternes, Monbazillac, Montrachet, Jurancon and Gewurztraminer.

Cheese: Red wine is usually served with cheese. But the wine should be chosen to suit the cheese. So, for example, Gruyere and Brie require a less full-bodied wine than Roquefort. Goats milk cheese goes well with a dry white wine such as Sancerre.

“I think it is a great error to consider a heavy tax on wine as a tax on luxury. On the contrary, it is a tax on the health of our citizens” - Thomas Jefferson, Third President of the United States.

There’s nothing better than working your way through little individually wrapped gifts on Christmas morning. I’m a lucky boy, my mother still believes in stocking fillers. One of the gems I found in my Christmas stocking last month was the Wine Enthusiast’s Little Book of Wine - 127 mini pages crammed with classic quotes and handy tips. Here’s an introduction:

“There are few pleasures more fulfilling than a fine glass of wine. From its fragrant bouquet and beautiful colour to its elegant taste, wine is a delight to the senses in so many ways. Wine Enthusiast’s Little Book of Wine celebrates the great joy that wine brings us, through rich observations and memories from some of the world’s greatest thinkers, artists and winemakers. With tips on storing, serving, and buying wine, and suggestions on how to maximise your wine tasting experience, this small book of wisdom is sure to delight wine lovers everywhere.”

Using the words of winemaker, Robert Mondavi, wine is family and friends, warmth of heart and generosity of spirit, art, culture and the essence of civilisation. So let us not complicate it too much.

“When there is plenty of wine, sorrow and worry take wing” - Ovid, Roman poet.

Respected wine critic and vigneron James Halliday has a career that spans over forty years, but he is most widely known for his witty and informative writing about wine. A book for anyone captivated by Australian wine, James Halliday’s 2010 edition of The Australian Wine Companion is a must have.

Recognised nationally as the industry benchmark, The Australian Wine Companion is packed with tasting notes for 5884 wines, profiles of 1467 wineries and expert rankings of wineries throughout Australia. We felt like kids on Christmas morning when we got our hands on this book.

I found it easier to read, browse and search through than Robert Parker’s Wine Buyer’s Guide, which I would also recommend for any wine enthusiast, although he’s not just covering Australia, so naturally there is more information there.

A brief overview of four wineries (with a few featured wines) in the Curious range that attained the coveted 5 star rating:

Glaetzer Wines (Barossa Valley)

Amon Ra Unfiltered Shiraz 2007 - 96 points “…complex, compelling and certainly representative of the very essence of the region.”

Langmeil Winery (Barossa Valley)

Fifth Wave Grenache 2006 - 94 points (just in and available to order by contacting us) “…has a lot of personality, spice and depth; a surprising amount for a pure grenache; long and juicy.”

Blacksmith Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 - 93 points “Rich, generous, luscious cassis, blackcurrant, dark chocolate and cedar all interwoven; ripe tannins on a balanced finish.”

Keith Tulloch Wine (Lower Hunter Valley)

The Kester Hunter Valley Shiraz 2003 - 94 points (This review is available in the 2008 Companion) “Very much in Keith Tulloch style; medium bodied, but with fruit ripeness perfectly judged; an array of predominantly red fruits, fine tannins and oak”.

Fonty’s Pool Vineyards (Pemberton)

Fonty’s Pool Single Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2008 - 94 points (click here to view 2007 vintage) “Bright floral aromas lead into a very intense palate, with a strong citrussy core thrusting through to the lingering finish; a wine of remarkable purity.”

Other highly rated wines from wineries just short of the 5 star rating:

Barossa Babe 2004 (94 points)

Dexter Pinot Noir 2007 (92 points)

Rockbare Chardonnay 2008 (89 points)

Cascabel McLaren Vale Tempranillo 2008 (88 points)

Essential toilet reading for any wine lover, A Wine Miscellany, by Graham Harding, is an eclectic selection of unrelated wine orientated facts. Very easing reading, it’s the kind of book you can pick up and start where you left off a month ago, but at the same time it’s very addictive - as I found last night, sitting up to 1am after not being able to get enough of the funny and surprising things I didn’t know about wine.

Here’s how the back reads:

• A complete listing of all wines enjoyed by James Bond in Ian Fleming’s novels
• The stories behind such labels as ‘Cat’s Pee on a Gooseberry Bush’ and ‘Fat Bastard’
• How and why two glasses of wine a day (but no more) are good for you
• A tasting note on the world’s oldest wine
• Wine and the reality-TV show Big Brother
• The connection between Luke Skywalker, Francis Ford Coppola and a ranch-bottled wine names Viandante del Cielo

Anyone intrigued or enchanted by wine and its varied delights will find A Wine Miscellany the perfect accompaniment. Refreshingly light on the palate, it’s neither pompous nor patronising but something else altogether - a fascinating and joyful jaunt through the world of vineyards, vinification, and of glorious wine itself.

Arranged and compiled as a true miscellany should be, with a deft sprinkling of fact and comment, observation and insight, A Wine Miscellany is a perfect gift for the wine connoisseur, and, for the newcomer to wine, an entertaining and informative introduction to the charm and marvel of the grape. I’d score this a 100 points.

“Do take what I owe from these notes. And do remunerate yourselves for the trouble and inconvenience I may be causing you. Please convey my sincere apologies to my fellow guests for any disturbance.

How much of this I actually managed to speak out loud, I do not know, but the notes were snatched from my hand. I found that if I moved my head a little to the left I could pillow it on the head waiter’s shoes. They were black and well polished and surprisingly comfortable to nestle against.

So ends the first chapter of The Irresistible Inheritance of Wilberforce, as the title character finishes a meal comprising the odd forkful of lamb and two bottles of 1982 Château Pétrus, at a mere £3,000 a pop.

What follows is an intelligently crafted tale, told in reverse order as the pieces of an ultimately tragic story unfold, of a self-made millionaire succumbing to the irresistible indulgence of an inherited cellar of fine wine.

This is the second novel by Paul Torday, debutant author in 2006 with the critically acclaimed Salmon Fishing in the Yemen. Torday admits in his short postscript to not being a wine expert, relying on Robert Parker’s Bordeaux: The Comprehensive Guide to describe Wilberforce’s primary fixation, but there’s more than enough gloriously colourful prose to have wine fans aching for a big glass of claret.

Whether you’re a wine lover or not, for an indulgent, evocative and ultimately very enjoyable read, treat yourself to the irresistible Wilberforce.

See my rating on Loudervoice.
Cover picture courtesy of The Book Depository.