Good Better Best Wines

Good Better Best Wines: A No-Nonsense Guide to Popular Wines by Carolyn Hammond is a straight-forward, practical book designed to help you make the best choices when shopping for affordable, easy-to-find wines. The book is perfect for both the novice wine drinker and the more experienced wine lover who's looking for some guidance on popular brands.

You may be surprised to learn that over 90% of the wine sold in the United States costs $15 or less. Professional wine writer and sommelier Carolyn Hammond recognized the need for a definitive guide to these affordably priced, popular wine brands. In writing Good Better Best Wines, she sought out samples of the top selling 120 wines and began making taste comparisons.

To organize the book, she's grouped the wines first by varietal, then separated each varietal into 3 price ranges: $5.00 to $7.99, $8.00 to $10.99 and $11.00 to $15.00. Each price range has "good, better and best" recommendations that include easy-to-understand tasting notes, a bottle photo, the percentage of alcohol by volume and a sidebar with serving tips and wine facts that will help increase your knowledge and enjoyment of wine.

The book covers all the main varietals of red and white wines, as well as some blends and less common finds. There are chapters on rosés, sparkling wines, dessert wines and affordable party wines. There's even a few recommendations for wines priced below $5 a bottle! A chapter titled "Getting the Most Out of That Bottle" offers some sage advice on glassware, wine storage, serving temperatures and tasting, too.

We truly love this book because it was written for the average wine buyer. It's organized so that you can find what you're looking for in a matter of seconds and small enough to tuck in your purse or pocket and take it along to the the store.