Book review: “Taste” of Gido Van Imschoot

Guido Van Imschoot is president of Professional Sommeliers Flemish. His intent with this book is to make us share his passion for wine and gastronomy. Taking advantage of its extensive experience in the field of wine and agreements, we will better understand how to approach wine and thus better appreciate them.


After a brief chapter on “the history of taste,” chapter where he takes a step back to the path that leads to the kitchen of the twenty-first century, the author plunges into the heart of the matter in detail the elements constituting the taste of wine: its origin, growing methods and winemaking and, of course, grapes. 16 of them are described accurately. Guido Van Imschoot continues with a section more practical “how to taste wine,” is both instructive , and very clear, and “The agreement of wine and food” which, as a preamble to the following chapters, defines a general approach particularly interesting and well written.

The entire second half of the book is devoted to the agreements: the author takes one to one major types of wine (5 white and 4 red) to offer us several recipes for dishes that agree perfectly with this type of specific wine. The revenue (over 35 in total) are quite elaborate and were created by chefs for a hotel school.

The presentation of the book is quite superb, with magnificent photos of Andrew Verschetze us watering at the mouth. The quality of editing and the quality of its content make it a beautiful gift for the amateur hedonist, whether beginner or already an expert.