WineWordsTheBook.com

WineWords received an excellent book review from Tamlyn Currin of JancisRobinson.com

This is a book, written entirely in English, aimed at people for whom English is not a first language. It's for oenologists, viticulturists, vintners, importers, brokers, sommeliers, those in wine marketing, those in enotourism, restaurateurs, wine students and wine enthusiasts. It doesn't teach 'wine'. It teaches you the vocabulary of wine and how to use it. It's a clever concept.

Each chapter focuses on a different segment of the wine industry. Nothing is left out. 'Learn' sections indicates a particularly fundamental bit of information, often presented in the style of questions, to challenge the student to think further. A 'Read' flag indicates written text with key wine words in bold blue italic font. These key words are all found in the glossary with their explanations, but the meaning can also be gleaned from the context of the text within which they appear.

The third flag that the student encounters within each unit is 'Watch'. This is a rich collection of over 120 videos, free to watch on YouTube, covering every possible subject....Fascinating in themselves simply for the subject matter and interview content, the authors have interviewed first- and second-language English speakers from 16 different countries in order to expose students to different accents. It's details like this that underline the pedigree of this book as a language tool.

The book ends with the glossary as well as some very useful tools, such as the explanation of common phrasal verbs ('to round up', 'to drive home', 'to pair with'), spelling out words over the telephone ('A as in apple'), verbs for telephone conversations ('I'm trying to get in touch with Mr Smith'), the correct phraseology for email and etiquette for making/keeping appointments, tweeting and using other social media.

As I said from the start, it's a unique book occupying a unique sector of the wine-book market. But the potential.... is hugely exciting and could open doors for many.

WineWords book review from Felicity Carter of Meiningers, a wine media corporation that publishes several magazines in the German language and is responsible for organizing the trade fair: ProWein.

The biggest challenge of all is learning to speak like a professional; learning how to order in a restaurant is easy to master. But there’s a chasm between the language employed in everyday conversation and the fluent, high level language required for professional situations.

Those of us who are native English speakers have it easy, as English has become the international default. But what happens if you work in wine and don’t speak English?

Into this breach has stepped English teacher and wine educator Mike Mazey, who – with colleagues – has created a textbook aimed at giving wine professionals the international language they need. Mazey et al take an important wine topic, such as international wine marketing, and introduce the necessary language while exploring the topic. There are accompanying YouTube videos and plenty of multiple choice questions for practice. Anyone who worked through the entire book would come out the other side not just with an expanded vocabulary, but also with a working knowledge of the global wine trade. However, it can be dipped in and out of, as necessary, and is livened up with interviews and short articles.

The book also covers the difference between American and English usages, so you’ll always know when to say ‘variety’ and when to use ‘varietal’.

Although it’s designed for self study, it could easily be used as a textbook at university level, to get students up to professional speed at a rapid clip.

You can read the entire review here.