Wine & Drinks
Last updated: April 18, 2025
Two leading oenophiles choose their best wine books. Gin connoisseur Olivier Ward chooses his best books on that drink and Bianca Bosker, author of Cork Dork, talks about wine and drink in her best choices on the senses.
Jancis Robinson, wine journalist and connoisseur, and Randall Grahm, the Californian winemaker and founder of Bonny Doon Vineyard, both choose World Atlas of Wine by Hugh Johnson and Jancis Robinson. Both extoll the book’s maps of the world’s vineyards as uniquely useful aids for wine lovers. Bianca Bosker talks us through her story from olfactory ignoramus to wine connoisseur and cultural historian of taste and smell.
Olivier Ward discusses the history of gin, from its origins in the low countries, to the epidemic of gin-induced social deprivation in the London of the 18th century, to the origin of the gin and tonic in the need for British troops to find a drink with which to wash down their daily dose of quinine.
The best books on Wine, recommended by Jancis Robinson
Reading about wine may not be quite as fun as drinking it, but can help open up a world of history, geography, science and culture. The Financial Times’s wine critic and daily writer on JancisRobinson.com, Jancis Robinson, picks the best books on wine.
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1
Craze: Gin and Debauchery in an Age of Reason
by Jennifer Warner -
2
The Book of Gin: A Spirited World History from Alchemists' Stills and Colonial Outposts to Gin Palaces, Bathtub Gin, and Artisanal Cocktails
by Richard Barnett -
3
The Curious Bartender's Gin Palace
by Tristan Stephenson -
4
Gin: The Manual
by Dave Broom -
5
Gin & Tonic: The Complete Guide for the Perfect Mix
by Frédéric Du Bois and Isabel Boons
The best books on Gin, recommended by Olivier Ward
The best books on Gin, recommended by Olivier Ward
Olivier Ward, editor and co-founder of gin appreciation website, Gin Foundry, recommends the best books on Gin — the medicinal drink that came to define the British Empire.
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1
The Foul and the Fragrant: Odour and the Social Imagination
by Alain Corbin -
2
Aroma: The Cultural History of Smell
by Anthony Synnott, Constance Classen & David Howes -
3
A Natural History of the Senses
by Diane Ackerman -
4
Taste What You're Missing
by Barb Stuckey -
5
Making Sense of Taste, Food and Philosophy
by Carolyn Korsmeyer
The best books on The Senses, recommended by Bianca Bosker
The best books on The Senses, recommended by Bianca Bosker
Is it possible that a flavour or smell could be as refined and elevating an experience as seeing a painting or listening to a piece of music? Journalist and expert sommelier, Bianca Bosker, describes how the process of training her own senses has transformed her experience of the world.
The best books on Wine, recommended by Randall Grahm
The Californian winemaker gives us a fabulously eclectic reading list for understanding and enjoying the world of wine.
