Jancis launches 24-Hour Wine Expert Book

This week saw the launch of a new book by wine writer Jancis Robinson MW. The 24-Hour Wine Expert, published in the UK by Penguin, is her shortest so far and is a slim £4.99 paperback, completely unlike any of her other books. She says it's designed not for people like me who are crazy about every detail of wine but for those who simply like drinking it and don't want to make fools of themselves.

In fact it was Jancis's 24-year-old daughter Rose who originally came up with the idea for the book, but never got around to writing it. Her friends were regular, enthusiastic and intelligent wine drinkers but had never had any formal wine training and were always asking her questions about wine, her mother being a famous wine writer. Eventually Jancis wrote the book herself and Rose contributed with feedback on the manuscript.

The book is 100 pages long and includes the essentials of wine - particularly the practical aspects and how to get the most out of wine. How to taste, choose, serve and buy wine, what's good value, major misconceptions about wine (such as that all wine improves with age, for instance) and a guide to wine jargon.