the best movies, books, zines, and resources on wine

Recommendations ranging from just pure entertainment to getting in-depth.

Jul 11, 2025

The silliest thing you can do to “get into wine” (air quotes) is to spend a lot of money to get a wine certification.

This is me below, with my wine certification.

Wine certifications are not a requirement to enjoying wine as a hobby (obviously), considering yourself a wine lover, or even applying for wine jobs. (During my interview, they explicitly said that certs don’t matter as long as I just surround myself with and enjoy wine). Which was awesome since I had just spent $600+ to get a cert.

There’s endless wine information out there. Ranging on a wide-scale between cool hipster zines and blogs that lean more towards wine culture and less about education (I acknowledge where I probably land), to dense-as-hell textbooks that no one actually reads unless you are getting said cert, to beginner-friendly guides & coffee table books.

So, here are my recommendations from super casual, fun & engaging wine content, to beginner-friendly guides all the way up to intermediate level.

Movies/TV

“I don’t really want to think too much, but I want fun wine content.”

Drops of God (Apple TV+ mini-series): exceptionally produced, prestige-television, about two people fighting for daddy’s love and his wine empire.
Fifty Shades of Gray wine edition?
Sideways: Paul Giamatti x Alexander Payne at their finest with a Sandra Oh cameo: two men in mid-life crises roadtripping through CA wine country.
Uncorked: Memphis BBQ + Rap soundtrack + Wine sommelier; directed/written by Practice Penny of “Insecure” and “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” (more POC somm movies please).

Digital Media

“I want to learn more about the basics of wine and wine culture.”

Eric Asimov: Start here. NYT wine critic with a byline in just about every wine publication. The most accessible and fun start into wine: from culture, to guides, to best wines for each season.
Jancis Robinson: nerdy-stuff from the GOAT of wine. The source of truth delivering wine how-to’s, descriptors, wine basics, vineyard visits, to the real heady info.
Noble Rot (magazine): very UK writing, irreverent wine mag that publishes 3/times a year, mostly focused on wine culture at large.
B.Y.O.B. (zine): new zine based in NY, quick bites of wine culture, engaging, yet sometimes lofty writing (wait for the 2nd issue, coming soon).
Unicorn (formerly New Wine Review): basically the Bon App of wine writing (rivaling the former old heads: Decanter, Wine Enthusiast, Wine Spectator)
Swurl (online): new wine publication discussing wine culture and some guides, with occasional NYC pop-ups.
Industry Reports: like this or market trend analysis. Perfect for a nice skim read—gloss over them for interesting facts, graphs, and abstracts for the interesting tidbits.

Social Media

(Youtube) André Hueston Mack: Bon App strikes again. André is one of the most exciting voices in wine right now—cool, casual, and insightful.
(IG): Eunhee Kwon: designer » somm living in NY (Somm of the Year)
(IG): cokiesworldofwine: gen-z somm creating fast and quick bite content
(Youtube) Wine Folly: comparable to your quirky aunt making wine content (accessible and detailed).
(Podcast) Wine for Normal People: very in-depth but helpful if you need a listen to long-form content about a specific wine interest (your fave regions or grapes)

Books

“I’m here to learn!”

(Beginner) Wine Folly: Start here. The only wine book you ever need unless you’re actually planning on becoming a sommelier or need to understand niche regions (it’s very euro-centric). Beautiful (sans art-deco cover) easy-to-read graphics of every major wine region, grape varietal, food pairings, wine rules, etc. The Salt-Fat-Acid-Heat of wine books.
(Intermediate) Wine Bible (PDF Edition): An everything guide. The natural progression once you find yourself hitting the limitations of Wine Folly.
(Intermediate to Advanced) Wine Atlas: Extremely in-depth maps and graphics of all major and minor wine-growing regions. For example, you can find information on the history of Lebanese or Armenian winemaking to the terroir of Savoie.
(Honorable Mention) Four Horsemen Cookbook: there are pages within the cookbook that focuses on guides, food pairings, and nuanced ways to think about wine and your relationship with it, written by the late-great mind of natural wine, Justin Chearno.

Events

“Reading is boring, I just want to drink wine!” (NY-based wine events)

Children Atlas of Wine: conducts educational wine pop-ups at bars all across NY. The founder, Jim Sligh, used to moonlight at Vine Wine and would give us the best recommendations and help create our wine cases.
Leon and Sons Wine: well-respected wine shop in BK, features in-house educational classes regularly.
Drink China Wine Club: NYC-based events featuring Chinese wines!! Did you know China even made wines? (China’s the ~10th biggest wine producer)
What About Wine (self-promo): Keep updated on my IG and subscribe to my newsletter to keep updated on my next wine event (like this one!)

The best education to wine is your own palate and a tasting notebook to record your thoughts. Buy some new wines from grapes you’ve never heard of and ask the wine folks at the shop or bar what to try next. Even better, take some time off to visit the nearest vineyard for a tour and tasting flight (or save up to fly to your favorite wine region!). Lastly, setup wine tastings at your place and invite a bunch of friends.

I’ll be visiting Finger Lakes wine country in August and I’m excited to see what’s out there. Send me any recs for wine or other activities, I’d love to connect.