Wine Spectator’s Ultimate Guide to Buying Wine          
8th Edition

 The Wine Spectator’s Ultimate Guide to Buying Wine – all 1004 pages of it – has scores and tasting notes for over 11,000 wines and is just the ticket for anyone who buys wine.

 It’s geared for every level of wine lover from those seeking to enhance their cellars to those who simply want to get the best wine and best value for their dollar.

 Don’t miss the 10 tips for buying wine especially the nuggets that recommend you drink your wines before they’re too old, that you should stockpile what you like to drink, and that you taste a bottle before committing yourself to a case based on points or someone else’s recommendation. Other goodies are Wine Spectator’s pick for Wine of the Year (the 2001 Paloma Merlot from California, $45 and 95 points), the top 100 wines, and the top 10. Particularly useful are the Spectator’s “150 Smart Buys from $50 Top Producers” with almost all the bottles falling between the US$10 and $20 mark and with ratings of 86 to 93 points. Although this is a US publication, many wines are available in our market: Check private wine shops in addition to government liquor stores.

 The only drawback to this great book? With new vintages released each year you’ll want to invest in the 9th edition, the 10th and so on… to keep current. And why not? For the price of a bottle of wine, you’ll be assured of that all your wine buying decisions will be enjoyable ones.

 Reviewed by Judith Lane, wine and food writer