Book Review: Wines of South America: The Essential Guide; by Evan Goldstein

To view a complete list of all the books I have reviewed on The Academic Wino, visit my Wine Book Library page and browse!  

Today, I present to you a short review of the most recent book I’ve read: Wines of South Africa: The Essential Guide, by Evan Goldstein.

To purchase the book, you may find it here on the Amazon website: (*affiliate link*)

Hello readers!  I’m back from my honeymoon to Belize with my new husband! So many happy memories were made, and we’re so thrilled about what our future will hold for us.

While I was in Belize, I kept my eyes peeled for Belizean wines, though truth be told, Belize in general is a less-than-optimal place to grow vinifera grapes.  However, they do make wine out of many other things, including ginger, cashew nuts, and soursop.

On our way back home from Belize, and craving some good grape wines since it had been a week and a half since I had any, I got to thinking a little farther south and decided to whip open the book Wines of South America: The Essential Guide by Evan Goldstein.  While parts of South America have climates similar to where I was in Central America for my honeymoon, the continent is huge and has a wide variety of microclimates where wine grapes can grow and thrive (both vinifera and native).

Wines of South America: The Essential Guide by Evan Goldstein is chock full of information regarding the history, development, and current state of the wine industry in every country in South America that has at least one winery.  It doesn’t matter how small or seemingly “insignificant”, this book covers every little detail of South American wine and leaves one itching to hop on a plane and take a tour.

Wines of South America: The Essential Guide starts off with a very complete and fascinating look into the history and current state of the wine industry throughout South America, as well as a detailed account of the specific white and red grape varieties grown in the region.  Then, the book is divided up into the different countries in South America that have a wine industry, no matter how small, and launches into greater detail on the specific history and major players in those more focused areas.  The end of each chapter highlights some of Goldstein’s recommended wineries to visit in the particular country of focus for

Photo from Amazon.com

Photo from Amazon.com

that chapter, giving a lot of detail regarding the size, history, and types of wines made at each one of those wineries.

Wines of South America: The Essential Guide wraps up with several short chapters introducing touring around the South American wine country, South American cuisine, and a lengthy selection of author-recommended wines and how to interpret their labels.

If you’re thinking about travelling to South America to visit the many wine regions throughout the continent, Wines of South America: The Essential Guide, by Evan Goldstein is THE book to get.  He wasn’t kidding when he called it “The Essential Guide”.  It really covers everything you in the need to know about the wine industry in all countries in South American that are growing grapes and making wine.  Even if you aren’t actually going to go there yourself, the book is a wonderful reference for your library shelves and you can learn A LOT just by reading it.

If you do go to tour wine country in South America, I highly recommend going with a tour group and not trying to do it all by yourself.  Navigating around in South America for someone that is not from the area is quite the adventure in and of itself.  Spare yourself the time and wine missed in getting lost in the middle of nowhere South America, and get yourself involved with a travel agent and tour group.

To purchase the book, you may find it here on the Amazon website:  (*affiliate link*)

Happy reading!