Book Review: Wine Genesis

Wine Genesis / Wein Genesis
By: Peter Oberleithner (design and photo), Karl Mayer (text)
Kulinarium Verlag e.U. www.kulinariumverlag.at

A massive and heavy book with lots of photos on vines and wine cellar equipment – that is, in short, what this book is. It is above all a picture book with illustrations from vineyards and wineries, e.g. a series of photos on how the vine develops from bud to ripe grapes, extending over 22 double page spreads, or another series that illustrates how fining mixes with the wine in a barrel over six double page spreads. This may be some of the most extreme examples, but clearly the book is for the one passionate about intricate details. The book is without a doubt the result of a very ambitious project to illustrate how a wine is made, in the vineyard and in the winery with ample photography and to some extent text. The text is in two languages, English and German. The descriptions are often detailed. They are also often focused on how things are made in Austria (and Germanic wine regions), and therefore not always representative for winemaking elsewhere, so the book has perhaps limited validity as a text book. It is above all a photo book, and most of the illustrations are excellent, albeit some interiors and technology photos take with flash are not quite up to par. The last third of the book is a catalogue, well illustrated and with explanatory text, of the major grape varieties, again with a focus on Austria and Central Europe.

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(For more of a text - and photo - book on the subject you could also try our own book on vine growing and winemaking.)