Barolo and Barbaresco: The King and Queen of Italian Wine Hardcover – October 17, 2014

If you are going to be spending the kind of time and money that great Nebbiolo commands, this book is well worth the time and money it asks. The history and the description of the producers are well-researched and will reward the reader appropriately. Yes, there may be a few producers whose absence is conspicuous, but on the whole, the content is accurate and insightful. The pittance you spend on this book should help lead you toward great bottles, and/or away from some you might not find meeting your specific tastes. "Barolo and Barbaresco" is a wonderful compliment to the other existing literature on this region and this grape. Kerin has fulfilled her task admirably.

Lo recomiendo 100%.

I pre-ordered this book and for the most part found it to be a very good read and reference to the wines in this area. The author clearly likes the traditional style of wines rather than the barrique aged wines popular until quite recently. To a large extent I agree with her and her selection of wine makers who she chooses to describe in detail.So why not a perfect 5 star score? Well other than the cover, the book has no color maps or photos (only black and white). I think the book could have benefited with a little color. An important omission is a scale on each map of the sub-areas of barolo and barbaresco - one has no idea just how big or small these areas are and of course if you refer to the Slowfood Atlas of the Langhe for this information then again heaps of maps but again no scale. It is unfortunate that the first part of Chapter 1 describes very dryly the geology and soils of the Langhe. The coverage implies there is some connection between the wines and geology / soils; the chapter goes around in circles and leaves us with a quote " the soils....have no real influence on the musts and wines". I am not sure that this subject is the author's strongpoint and is a poor start to an otherwise very good, but in my opinion not excellent book.

I have enjoyed this book tremendously! I love the author's writing style, and the information is so well researched and fabulous. As in the author's book on Brunello di Montalcino, I was able to follow it easily, taking notes as I went along. As a result of the book, I recently went to Alba and Barolo, and visited the cellars of Le Marchesi di Barolo. I felt so much more knowledgeable! Reading this book was like reading a novel ... once putting it down I couldn't wait to pick it up again to see what happened in subsequent chapters. I thoroughly enjoyed it and highly recommend it.

Amazing how much the author knows about these Italian treasure.

What an excellent read thus far. Kerin O’Keefe has done an amazing job on this book. Super informative information about this amazing grape. I’ve been a wine lover for years but now am getting deeper into wine and exploring and learning more than just drinking it. Great information and first hand accounts is great. Looking forward to trying the winemakers she mentions. Love that she included the websites for the ones that have taken on technology to sell their wine. Overall great read! Look forward to reading her other work on Brunello.

It is obvious that Ms O'Keefe has a good deal more experience with the Barolo and Barbaresco regions than I. Nebbiolo is my favorite grape, I have been a collector for more than thirty years, and I have just returned from my third trip to Piedmont. I was excited to see this book was published and ordered a copy immediately upon my return. As I have read it, I have become less excited. The pictures and maps are of average quality at best. About 250 pages of the book are devoted to profiles of producers while about 65 pages are spent on the Nebbiolo grape and the history and geology of the region. Personally, I would have preferred that ratio to have been reversed. Much of the information about producers concerns Ms O'Keefe's personal relationships with the winemakers and her tastings of their wines. Useful as that information is, it sometimes seems to be repetitive. She has a laudable bias toward traditional wines, but it seems to have caused her to leave out many producers. We are left to wonder whether they have been omitted because they don't make good wines, or because she hasn't tasted their wines, or because she just doesn't like their style of wine. On my latest trip, I visited eight producers in Barolo and Barbaresco whose wines I enjoy, only two of which were profiled in the book. Some were small-production wineries such as Ca Romé and Negro Giuseppe who I personally think make very good Barbarescos. Others like Marchesi di Gresy, G. D. Vajra, and Damilano should have been included because of their size and the quality of their wines, in my opinion. It is a good book on the subject, but it has taken me longer to read than if I had been able to remain as excited about it as I thought I would be. I would suggest that anyone who reads it should pursue other sources of information about the region and the producers and not limit oneself to her preferences.

Long needed treatment of this great area. She is as conversant as anyone on the planet, and marvelously opinionated. I do confess that her aesthetics and mine agree, and that out-and-out "modernists" might be a bit upset at some of her celebrity omissions. So, her aim is not to be encyclopedic, but the most entertaining wine books have never had that aim.

Approfondimenti storici e tecnici completi, aneddoti, interviste e schede sulle aziende arricchite da foto e degustazioni esaustivi, nonostante il testo sia stato ultimato quasi 10 anni fa, outstanding job! Kerin O'Keefe è una garanzia.

Great book.

This is a fantastic book on one of my most favourite wines (Barolo). Having purchased Kerin’s Previous effort on Brunello, this was a natural succession. It’s exceptionally well written, clear and concise with plenty of information. I am currently studying for my WSET qualification’s and this is a very useful additional studying aid. Well worth the price, and despite a previous reviewers criticism of price, paper quality and black and white photos, this should not put off anybody seriously into one of the worlds noblest wines if these things are important to you. That said....paper quality!!!!. Really!!!. Maybe Blossom Hill or Echo Falls is more suited to this reviewer if the price of £30 for an educational book is a problem. After all, quality Barolo costs money....

Very interesting book!

My favorite book on my favourite wine region. A must-have for anyone interested in the subject...