by Martin Field
Perfumes: The Guide – * * * * * acid spicy $45
Wine guides there are in plenty but apparently this is the first critical guide for perfume. Perfumes: The Guide lists some 1500 fragrances and rates them with a five star system. (See (pdf) examples here.)
I used to work in the perfume biz and early on realised that perfume shares many elements with wine and its evaluation. Wine lovers will recognise many of the terms used in this book’s fragrance descriptions. You’ll find volatility, fruits and spices, citrus, lactones and aldehydes, acetones and vanillins and all.
You can almost smell the scents of expensive fashion houses wafting off the pages. Well in my copy you can. I went to a perfume store and asked for a few perfumed cards, which I took home and sniffed as I read the relevant descriptions and then used them as bookmarks. If ever a book needed a scratch and sniff capsule on every page this is it.
Co-authors Turin (AKA the Emperor of Scent) and Sanchez write beautifully. Their expert critiques are at times incisive, hilarious, lavish and scathing. Brilliant!
Tania Sanchez and Luca Turin. Hardback. Published by Profile Books. Distributed in Australia by Allen and Unwin

Australian Wine Vintages 2009–The Gold Book – $35
Australia’s first wine guide is now in its 26th edition and has sold nearly a million copies over the years. The compact hardback lists current and back vintages of Australian wines, rates different vintages of wines, uses a five star ranking to advise consumers on quality, lists estimated values of older vintages and so forth.
Robin Bradley with Robert Geddes MW. Published by Geddes A Drink Publications Pty Ltd.
Sri Owen’s Indonesian Food – $60
Although primarily a cookbook, this is partly Owen’s autobiography and partly a cultural expedition into Indonesia and its diverse regional cuisines. Her 120 recipes are clear and concise and Owen handily offers suggested substitutes for hard to obtain ingredients. Large format hardback, illustrated.
Pavilion Books London. HarperCollins Australia.
Desert Island Wine – $30
I like this sort of book. It’s a beach or bedside table smorgasbord that you can dip into for a nibble or a chuckle now and then. Lambert- Gócs writes with a literary bent and here you will find humorous narrative snippets involving the supposed vinous voices of Dionysus, Captain Ahab, Thomas Jefferson, Socrates, and more.
Miles Lambert – Gócs. Published by Ambeli Press, Virginia USA. Distributed in Australia by Peribo.
Grape vs. Grain – A Historical, Technological, and Social Comparison of Wine and Beer – $50
Author Bamforth is a self-confessed beer fan ‘…I do not dislike wine, nor the viticulturalists and enologists who bring that amazing product to the market. I drink wine, though I prefer beer…’
In support of his case, Bamforth compares both beverages in detail, including their history, manufacture, quality and ‘healthfulness’. In addition, he argues convincingly that beer deserves to be taken as seriously as wine.
However, as I read his words I thought that his arguments were hardly helped by major brewers. Corporations, which instead of using only naturally fermented malt, hops and water, continue to churn out oceans of carbonated, bland and nearly tasteless fizz ‘extended’ with cane or corn sugar and tricked up with essences of this and that. At least most wine, good and bad, is made from grapes…
Of course, Bamforth doesn’t have to persuade Australian winemakers about the worth of beer. Knock-off time in many a winery is known as beer o’clock and the favourite after work thirst-quencher is not wine but stubbies of bottle-conditioned ale.
I thought the book a fascinating read and promised myself that from now on I would concentrate on tasting (good) beer rather than just drinking it.
Charles Bamforth. Hardback. Published by Cambridge University Press, New York
Balance – Matching Food and Wine What Works and Why – $35
When people ask me about wine the most common question is about wine and food matching. In future I shall merely direct them to this book for advice. Corney and Milan explain all about wine and food tasting and list major wine grape varietals, detailing why each one’s particular characteristics suit certain food styles.
Lyndey Milan and Colin Corney. Large format paperback, illustrated. Published by Hachette Sydney, Australia.
James Halliday Australian Wine Companion 2009 – $35
Halliday’s comprehensive annual Companion rates nearly 6000 currently available wines from just under 1700 wineries. If you want to buy wine to drink now or to keep for later this is the essential buying guide.
Paperback. Published by Hardie Grant Books.
All prices in Australian dollars.