The Essential Scratch & Sniff Guide to Becoming a Wine Expert by Richard Betts

I saw this in a bookstore and thought, "No way that actually works!" The book is literally a scratch 'n' sniff guide to all wine-related smells. Betts' whole schtick, a very common one for American vintners and wine experts, is that anyone can be a "wine expert." They say this because they know it helps them make more money.

So naturally scratch 'n' sniff was the next step in that marketing scheme.

I do not have a sensitive schnoz, so although I was able to smell all the scratchy smells, I could already tell that I would have difficulty separating the smells of a glass of vino. But the book still had some relevant information.

I was pleasantly surprised by the chart at the end. Using the written guide, I imagined what I wanted to taste and it actually matched up with the resulting wine suggestion. So maybe I "know" what the smells are supposed to smell like in wine even if I can't separate those smells out individually.

Would be a good gag gift book to get on sale…Other than that, I'm not sure if it's worth it.

~5/10~