Here’s a good idea for what to give that food and wine aficionado on your gift list: A copy of The Food Lover’s Guide to Wine by Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg. Not only is it extremely well organized, this is also one of those rare books that’s fun to just open up randomly and allow yourself be entertained (as well as informed) by what’s on the page. For 
example, I just flipped Food Lover’s open to p.135, where my eye fell on the following quote from Hristo Zisovski, the beverage director at Manhattan’s Ai Fiori: “I love Chenin Blanc. But it is not for everyone. It is like wet wool, which can be a turnoff to some. When you drink it you feel this thick layer of minerality on your tongue. I happen to like minerality.” This is an excellent description of Chenin (I like minerality too!) and it also helps me understand why some folks just aren’t keen on this particular wine.
I close the book and open it again, landing this time on p. 257, in a section called “Wine: the Perfect Complement for Every Course.” Here’s a practical little note from the authors themselves at the bottom of the page: “On a recent visit to Argentina and Chile, we saw this trick practiced successfully time and again: To counteract the earthy, herbal notes in big South American and other red wines, top the red-meat dishes that accompany them with an herbed sauce, such as chimichurri, salsa verde, or even pesto. Your palate will perceive the herbal notes as coming from the sauce, and not the wine, which will bring out the wine’s fruit flavors.”
One more random flip of the wrist takes me to a section called “Autumn Wines” (from Algianico to Zinfandel), with a useful quote from the fortuitously named Emily Wines, sommelier and wine director for Kimpton Hotels. “Autumn is when I start to look for things with nuttier flavors,” she writes. “Nuts and dried fruit flavors start to show up in our dishes, so the wines will reflect that. I am looking for something with dried fig or dried date flavors. Reds that fall into this profile would be reds from southern Italy, like an Aglianico-based wine or Valpolicella Ripasso, or aged California Cabernets. Sherry, Madeira, and Pedro Ximénez sherry all have dried fruit flavors and work with autumn desserts.”
One of the charms of Food Lover’s Guide is that it’s richly studded with tips, reflections, advice, and opinions from a host of influential sommeliers rather than expressing just one opinion from a critic, blogger, journalist, winemaker or other “expert.” You won’t agree with everything you read here, but you’ll concur that most of it makes good sense, a lot of the advice is downright practical, and some of it positively inspiring (as in–do I have a bottle of Chenin Blanc somewhere or am I going to have to rush out and buy one?)
I must also include a word about Tom Kirkman’s photographs, which go way beyond the slick vino-photos we see so often. Kirkman’s quirky portraits of sommeliers give a real sense of their personality (check out Belinda Chang on p. 194). Many of his pictures, such as the glass of white wine with reflections of palm trees shimmering in it (p. 136) depict an entire world in a single image–a feat impossible to do with words, and very rare in visual images. And unless you own the book yourself, try to refrain from licking the depiction of foie gras on p. 201.
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