The wine author and wine lecturer Wolfgang Staudt has already shown with his wine books "Fünfzig einfache Dinge, die Sie über Wein wissen sollten" (2005) and "Fünfzig Rotweine, die Sie kennen sollten" (2006) how comprehensive wine knowledge can be elegantly packaged in language and conveyed in an entertaining as well as instructive way. He has also succeeded in doing this with his current book "Fünfzig Weißweine, die Sie kennen sollten" (Fifty White Wines You Should Know); however, the title somewhat misses the ambitious content: In fact, Staudt portrays with "Meursault" and "Sancerre", with "Sémillon" and "Gewürztraminer" less certain "white wines" of certain producers, but rather the most interesting white grape varieties and typical white wine styles worldwide. The text, which is not loosened up by any illustrations, maps or vine variety descriptions, succeeds in doing this excellently: Wolfgang Staudt, who, as a lecturer, is able to empathize with the "agony of choice" of even "advanced" consumers in front of the full shelves of specialty stores and discounters, has didactically cleverly structured his portraits of the white wine styles as vinophile "lessons". He describes the respective profile in sensory and aromatic, the palate impression and the taste picture - and explains the worldwide presence of the vines with their local aromatic expressions.
Staudt, however, does not leave it at the description of how it tastes, he also gives the reasons why a wine tastes like this and not different in each case: "The causes of the great stylistic and qualitative diversity" are explained in an understandable way by the influences of the climate, the terroir with soil, light and water conditions, the specific working methods in the vineyard (e.g. pruning and stocking density) and the possibilities of cellar technology (e.g. cooling and wood contact). The portraits are rounded off with practical advice on suitable dishes, recommended producers, tips on tasting similar-tasting wines ("To try further") and the approximate price range. The unconventional classification of the 50 white wines into the categories of the "classics" (e.g. Riesling), the "distinguished" (e.g. Chablis), the "pleasures" (e.g. Soave), the "extroverts" (e.g. Alsatian Gewürztraminer), the "racy" (e.g. Vinho Verde), the "elegant" (e.g. Riesling), and the "elegant" (e.g. Riesling).E.g. Vinho Verde), sparkling wines, sweet wines and wines fortified with alcohol enables consumers to orientate themselves for their own purchase - depending on mood and occasion - on the "character and temperament" of the wines.
Unfortunately, this publication, which is so dedicated and linguistically virtuosic to "wine as a jewel of human cultural achievement", also exhibits a common deficiency in wine books: Even with this book, its usefulness to the reader would be greatly increased if it had indexes for quick look-ups of place names, personal names, and technical terms. This could certainly be done in later editions. It is also regrettable that the informative chapter "Controversial Techniques and Preparations of Modern Enology", which was still included in the introduction of the previously published title "Fifty Red Wines You Should Know", has been deleted. The compressed information about enzymes and cultured yeasts, about must concentration and the "centrifugal cone column" used for wine fractionation and synthesization there do emphatically teach about certain realities of the brave new wine world. Nevertheless, Wolfgang Staudt's latest title "Fifty White Wines You Should Know" is highly recommended to those interested in wine literature: For beginners as the start of a wonderful friendship with the world of white wines, for advanced readers to cultivate their passion and deepen their knowledge - and for literature lovers among wine lovers as proof of how light-footedly buoyant the language of a wine book can be.
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Wolfgang Staudt, "Fifty White Wines You Should Know."Frankfurt/Main: Westend Verlag, 2007. length: 239 pages. Layout: hardcover. Format: 13.5 x 21 cm. ISBN: 978-3-938060-16-2. EUR 19.90 (D), EUR 20.50 (A), SFR 36.00 (CH).