How to Taste: A Guide to Enjoying Wine

The hands-on companion to Robinson’s beginner guide. Where “The 24-Hour Wine Expert” tells you what to know, “How to Taste” teaches you how to train your palate through practical exercises.

Why Read This

Once you have the basics down, the next step in wine appreciation is learning to trust and develop your own senses. This book is built around tasting exercises that teach you to identify flavours, compare styles, and understand what you personally enjoy. Robinson treats wine tasting as a learnable skill rather than an innate talent, which makes this book both encouraging and practical.

Originally published as “Masterglass” in 1983, this heavily revised 2008 edition reflects Robinson’s evolving understanding of how people best learn about wine. The theory-and-practice structure means you read a section, then taste, which makes the information stick far better than passive reading alone.

What to Expect

A 208-page guided course in wine tasting that balances accessible theory with structured practical exercises. Robinson recommends specific wines for each tasting session, focusing on bottles that are widely available and reasonably priced. The book requires more commitment than “The 24-Hour Wine Expert” but rewards you with a genuinely trained palate.