Lettie Teague takes it upon herself to educate Peter, a film critic, about the world of wine. With frequent references to films and people in the film industry, this book is entertaining and easy to read. Teagues’ entertaining style is humorous, conversational and factual.

Starting with Peter who has very limited wine experience Teague introduces Peter to wine tasting, six prominent grapes, old world wines and new world wines. Finally, the author takes Peter into the public arena including a wine auction, restaurants and wine shops. At the end of the book is a self-checking quiz to take. Consider taking the quiz before reading Educating Peter and after you read the book.

If you are looking only for factual wine information this may not be the book to choose. Educating Peter: How I Taught a Famous Movie Critic the Difference Between Cabernet and Merlot or How Anybody Can Become an (Almost) Instant Wine Expert is an entertaining wine book that informs with an informal tone.

The 100-page book is a crash course covering classic grape varieties, wines by region, other styles of wines, spirits and liqueurs, and factors that effect style, quality and price. This book is used as a textbook for the Intermediate class for WSET.

The book is a disappointment. It seems that the publishers wanted to create a text with around 100 pages. A tremendous amount of information is presented in the text, however, there is a lack of explanation and development of this information. Some may find the text rather insulting with one page devoted to the wines of the United States. It seems that the authors were unaware of the results of the Judgment of Paris 1976 and again in 2006.The text could easily be 200 – 300 pages with detailed explanations. An alternative is The Oxford Companion to Wine. This is an in-depth encyclopedia on wine for about the same price.