When an aspiring connoisseur creates the perfect...

When an aspiring connoisseur creates the perfect match between a particular wine and food, then the problem becomes remembering it for future soirees--both the vintage and the dish it so complemented. To the rescue of these memory-teasing moments comes Michael Broadbent’s Complete Guide to Wine Tasting and Wine Cellars (Simon & Schuster: $12.95). This collection of background and tips on wine also contains generous amounts of blank, organized charts for tasting and cellar notes. The only problem is that the book is so attractive that poor personal penmanship might diminish the overall effort. One of the other distinguishing aspects of the wine auctioneer’s book is striking photographs of color variations between different varietals. This section of graphics makes it relatively simple to contrast, for instance, the important visual characteristics of an immature French Bordeaux with a mature French Burgundy. Unfortunately, Broadbent did not elect to provide the same type of comparison for some of California’s world-class wines.