This is seriously what I am reading.
The Diary of a Nose, Jean-Claude Ellena – Ellena is the in-house perfumer for Hermès, and behind a number of fragrances I admire and enjoy: Hermessence Vetiver Tonka, Cartier Déclaration (more on this later), Voyage d’Hermès, Bigarade Concentrée, Different Company Osmanthus, Terre d’Hermès edp, the list goes on. If you are curious about the art, skill, theory, philosophy, etc*. behind perfume, this is an interesting little book, though I admit not as interesting as I had hoped (or maybe I just wish it were longer – it is much shorter than it looks). I like his more technical book better, Perfume: The Alchemy of Scent, though I warn you it is extremely technical.
*Here, for the interested, is a good New Yorker article about the process behind creating the Hermès fragrance Un Jardin sur le Nil.
Wine Politics: How Governments, Environmentalists, Mobsters, and Critics Influence the Wines We Drink, Tyler Colman
Perfect Pairings: A Master Sommelier’s Practical Advice for Partnering Wine with Food, Evan & Joyce Goldstein
Essential Winetasting: The Complete Practical Winetasting Course, Michael Schuster
The World Atlas of Wine, 6th ed., Hugh Johnson & Jancis Robinson
I have decided to be a bit serious about wine. Wine suits me, and being serious about wine suits me better still. Took a tasting course and enjoyed it so much. The act of parsing out the notes is exactly parallel to assessing a perfume; all a matter of attention, concentration, and recognition (and, the most challenging, expression).