The Wine All-in-One for Dummies was published by Wiley in September 2009. I’d received the review copy of the book months ago, but hadn’t gotten around to writing the review. What was the hold up? Had I stashed the book away and forgotten about it? Quite the contrary. Rather, it has been a busy season for me as a wine educator and the book has become an indispensible tool as I prepare for various events and clients.

The book, written by Ed McCarthy, CWE, and Mary Ewing-Mulligan, MW, differs from the previous Wine for Dummies books in that it is a compilation of five separate books, drawing on material previously published in: Wine For Dummies, 4th Edition, California Wine For Dummies^®, French Wine For Dummies^®, Italian Wine For Dummies^®, Red Wine For Dummies^®, White Wine For Dummies^®, Australian Wine For Dummies^®, Canadian Wine For Dummies^®, and Champagne For Dummies.

With its soft cover and reasonably-sized format, it is much easier to schlep around than the Oxford Companion to Wine or other similar tome, and, as a basic refresher, it is more than capable of handling the task. Granted, this is not MW exam review material, but it does provide information on grape varieties, wine character/styles and lists of top producers from each region. In this last regard, I can check my wine selections against their list and confirm that the wines I have chosen to purchase for an upcoming event should be indicative of the region and/or the wine style I am trying to illustrate.

Mary and Ed have an engaging writing style, which, when coupled with the symbols used in the for Dummies® series, make it extremely accessible for both amateurs and professionals to use. Admittedly, as a wine professional, I am somewhat embarrassed to be seen with “for Dummies” in the title, but am careful to shield the title when carrying the book around in public. But, that being said, the title doesn’t negate the book’s usefulness, so I continue to call upon it as needed.