Anyone Can Taste Wine

"Cees is a brilliant taster, but just as importantly, he knows how to communicate his knowledge clearly and with real insight. Consumers will love this book, but I learnt a lot from it too. And I’ve been tasting wine professionally for 35 years."

-Tim Atkin, MW

"In this thoughtful and highly original book, Cees van Casteren presents his structured and very practical framework for blind tasting wine - this isn’t just for students of wine, but will be invaluable for anyone who tastes wine on a regular basis."

-Jamie Goode, UK wine expert

"It is the best 'learn to taste wine' book I have ever come across"

"The person who has written this book comes at this with the mind of a scientist, the soul of a teacher, the eye of a graphic artist,  the disciplined organization of librarian (or data scientist), the heart of a wine lover."

"This is the book, hands down, which I would give to someone who came to me saying, 'I want to learn more about wine, where do I start?'"

-JancisRobinson.com

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Recensies | Mysite (ceesvancasteren.com)

Describing the taste of wine is a struggle for most people, even seasoned wine tasters. Author and Master of Wine Cees (pronounced Case) van Casteren has created a tasting method that helped him ace the Master of Wine exam and can be used daily by all wine lovers. 

In Anyone Can Taste Wine, Casteren shares his technique which employs the acronym CHARACTER, (Color, Harvest aromas, Aromas of winemaking, Ripening aromas, Acidity, Candy (sugar level), Tannins, Ethanol (alcohol), and Relative fruit intensity) to guide readers through the wine tasting process, turning aroma and flavor attributes into words. 

In a glowing review on janisrobinson.com, wine writer Tamlyn Currin writes, “This is the book, hands down, which I would give to someone who came to me saying, ‘I want to learn more about wine. Where do I start?’” 

Anyone Can Taste Wine’s easy-to-understand tasting method and straightforward, colorful graphics do indeed make it a delight for anyone who has a thirst for wine knowledge. Currin says the book is aimed at wine lovers and enthusiasts rather than MW students trying to pass exams. “As a result,” she says, “the tone is much more relaxed, even playful (it kicks off with one of Roald Dahl’s wickedly cynical but hilarious short stories) and the book is gorgeously bright. A much-needed splash of colour in a run of black-and-whites.”

Lisa Denning, thewinechef.com

Synopsis: With the publication of "Anyone Can Taste Wine", international wine expert Cees van Casteren provides all the knowledge and self-confidence required to become a world-class wine taster. Revealed in methodical steps just exactly how to acquire essential wine-tasting skills. Cees (it's pronounced 'Case') van Casteren (who is also an international wine competition judge, as well as one of the global super-elite -- less than 500 top experts worldwide).

Critique: Effectively illustrated throughout, informative, and thoroughly 'wine student friendly' in organization and presentation, "Anyone Can Taste Wine" is especially commended to the attention of anyone aspiring to earn the supreme title, Master of Wine -- or just to pick out the perfect vintage for each and every dining occasion. While highly recommended for personal, professional, community, and academic library collections, it should be noted that "Anyone Can Taste Wine" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $14.99).

Editorial Note: Cornelius (Cees) van Casteren MW (http://www.ceesvancasteren.com) is a Dutch writer and educator. He has won numerous awards for wine tasting since 2000 and became a Master of Wine in 2012. Cees is a Rioja Educator, Ambassadeur du Champagne and WSET Educator. Since 2004, Cees has written 12 books and more than 600 articles on wine and food. He publishes weekly in three newspapers of the Associated Press, is correspondent for Meininger's Wine Business International and writes for several other magazines. Cees is also partner of wine blog thestoryofmywine.com with approximately 100,000 followers on Instagram and Facebook, and he runs his own independent wine consultancy and training business. He currently is Chairman of the Association of Vinologists, the main trade association for wine professionals in the Netherlands.

https://midwestbookreview.com/wbw/jan_23.htm#wine

James A. Cox, Midwest Book Review

The Master of Wine exam is known to be one of the most difficult tests in the world and there are less than 500 people who’ve secured the honor since the program’s inception in 1953. One of those people is Cees van Casteren MW. In 2012, when he earned his Master of Wine (MW) title, he was only the second person in the Netherlands to hit this achievement.

van Casteren has a new English version of his book out this month which takes his framework of expertise and boils it down into a very useful method and reference point for anyone looking to enhance their wine tasting experience. Anyone Can Taste Wine (Carus Books, 2023) is helpful for students of wine, professionals, and anyone who wants to feel more empowered in knowledge and breadth of sense observations.

Many wine enthusiasts, both novice and experienced, sense that there is some mystique behind a sharp palate. But it’s not a mystery — wine tasting is about observation. Observation of what one sees, smells, and tastes, and also observation of reference points in one’s larger experience of the world. For example, when someone says they pick up the flavor of buttered toast in a sip of wine, they are observing the taste in the glass and their memory of buttered toast for breakfast. In order to tie those clues to a particular wine, the taster also has to have either experience or a guide to which wines might express that flavor under certain circumstances.

When someone says, for example, "I think this one is a Côte de Beaune,” it’s typically not just a good guess. This inference relies on the ability to translate a sensory message and a memory message and identify the wine based on these things. van Casteren’s book supplies a method for deductive interpretation, in both beginner and advanced versions, as well as a solid knowledge-based background on wine growing, making, and aging.

Readers will find the G-20 (Wine’s Internationals) and Local Heroes (Around the World in 80 Wines) particularly practical. Here van Casteren takes specific bottle examples and puts them to task with his CHARACTER tasting method — the framework for the tasting technique taught in the book. For example, let’s look at a wine with buttery and toasty notes, which appear in the ‘aromas of winetasting’ metric (the second A in CHARACTER). This factor appears on the page for a wine I’ve enjoyed, Joseph Drouhin Côte de Beaune Blanc from Bourgogne, France. van Casteren lays out the method and experiential notations for this wine as well as background on the region, his tasting notes, serving and storing recommendations, price range, and a list other wines made in a similar style.

Each page of Anyone Can Taste Wine is in full color with very clear language and appealing iconic graphics. It includes the aroma wheel by Dr. Ann Noble and plenty of relevant examples of quality and interesting wine that may people can find in the global market. I find that this book makes a positive wine tasting experience accessible to many while still maintaining a dedicated and scholarly standard for a practice that is by no means easy. van Casteren calls this a book for wine lovers, not wine snobs, which is an apt description of well-researched and appealing project that evidences the many years of experience behind is well-earned MW title.

Jill Barth, Food and Wine Contributor, Forbes Magazine