Money, Taste, and Wine: It's Complicated

There's nothing complicated about wine guru Veseth's overly simplistic and dull book. His goal is to counter the idea that higher-priced wine is of better quality and flavor. He offers advice about finding the wine that tastes best to you at the right price, while at the same time offering instruction in the many facets of the wine industry and its hidden secrets. After setting up the "trilemma"%E2%80%94his word for this less than complicated issue%E2%80%94of money, taste, and wine, Veseth makes a suggestion that anyone who buys wine or beer or whiskey already practices: to know one's own tastes, which will make it easier to select a satisfactory wine in a given price range. Veseth does helpfully sort out the varieties of wines and their packaging, debunking the myth that boxed wines are inherently less worth drinking than more expensively priced bottled wines. But the simplicity of the lesson undermines the need for a guide such as this. (Aug.)