Book Review: The Perfect Wine Cellar: The Ultimate Guide for Great Wine Collectors by Chiara Giannotti

Imagine having a wine cellar that is not only beautiful to enter but boasts a collection of the finest wines in the world. I certainly do! There are times when I dream of walking into my own cellar of fine wines (kept at the optimal temperature, of course!), gazing upon classic labels and carefully choosing, then opening, a magnificent bottle that has waited for this specific moment in time. Ahhh, pure luxury! Unfortunately, my dream ends too soon. So far, I haven’t had the time, patience, or money to collect all the wines that fit my personal tastes. However, now that I have marveled at the content in The Perfect Wine Cellar © 2019 by Chiara Giannotti and published by Rizzoli New York (sent as a sample review copy), I’ve been afforded plenty of expert guidance and inspiration into this exclusive, luxurious world of wine collecting.

Book Review: The Perfect Wine Cellar: The Ultimate Guide for Great Wine Collectors by Chiara Giannotti

Hardcover: 10 ¼ x 13 ¼ 224 pages / $100 USD, ISB 978-8-89-181804-1 – 5.4 lbs – Publisher: Rizzoli International Publications

Who could be more adept at writing this magnificent resource for the avid wine lover than Chiara Giannotti, an esteemed wine authority and Dame Chevalier de Champagne? Giannotti is creator and curator of vino.tv, Wine & Spirit Expert for the Ansuini Aste 1860 and TV and radio presenter for food and wine. Just released, The Perfect Wine Cellar  is aptly tagged as “the ultimate guide for great wine collectors.” This beautiful book doubles as a focal point on your coffee table and exudes luxury and elegance on every page.

Whether you’re constructing a noteworthy wine collection or just wish you could, Giannotti offers guidance via a plethora of information about regions and wines from around the world. To begin, she asks your motive for collecting fine wines. Will these treasures be an investment? Will you save them for special occasions or celebrations? Do you desire to pair these wines with specific foods? Are you looking for wines that can age beautifully over time? In essence, understanding your purpose to collecting is paramount to the wines chosen.

The Perfect Wine Cellar is a lavish, artistic and useful resource. Giannotti shares that the “fine wine” category consists of only 1% of wines produced and admittedly, they’re the most difficult to locate. In order for these masterpieces of wines to be included in the book, she thoughtfully considers a variety of factors. A wine’s quality and consistency through the years, expression of its unique terroir, historical value, personality and style, characteristics of its vintage year, rarity on the market, international reputation, inclusion and performance at wine auctions and guarantees of authenticity are crucial. Naturally, a fine wine is evaluated as to its subjective and personal value, too.

Each chapter begins with a comprehensive introduction by iconic wine industry experts after which Giannotti offers a fascinating overview, replete with anecdotes and little-known facts, of major wine regions around the globe. Stellar wines from Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne, The Rhone Valley, Italy, Piedmont, Tuscany, Germany, Austria/Portugal/Spain/Hungary, US/Argentina/Chile/Australia are suggested. Stunning photographs, thumbnail maps of each region from which the wine originates, grape varieties of the region and lists of outstanding vintage years per region provide more reasons to begin or complete a wine cellar like no other.

Like a fine wine, The Perfect Wine Cellar © 2019 by Chiara Giannotti, Rizzoli New York is an indulgence and source of inspiration to any wine aficionado. Whether you’re in the process of planning your own perfect wine cellar, adding distinctive wines to one already existing or simply desiring to take a peek into the masterful art of wine collecting, this book is for you.

Now, perhaps my dream to revel in that perfect wine cellar will come true…

Cheers! ~ Cindy