Wine tasting “course”

I had this older book that I really loved, can’t remember the name but basically it gave specific wines to taste and compare ( including vintages as appropriate). It started by comparing like “red” and “white” and then got more and more specific and expensive as your taste, knowledge and experience grew.

Obviously the problem is the book is only good for a couple years, then it’s out of date and the wines become unavailable. I got Windows on the World wine course book, but I was a little disappointed. It was almost ridiculously UNspecific. Like get a merlot and cab and compare them, or get a couple Oregob pinots and compare them.

So I guess my questions are, are there still books like the first one out there? Or, is there some website or forum group to help through that book in a more productive way?

You might be thinking of Tom Maresca’s book “Mastering Wine”, which fits your description. He’s still active and blogging at https://ubriaco.wordpress.com/. It’s possible he could suggest modern substitutes. A more recent book that you might find useful is Jancis Robinson’s “How To Taste”. It has practice exercises sprinkled throughout the book where she provides a generic description of the wine you should use (e.g. “cheap Italian white” or “light German Riesling”). Fair warning, it is much nerdier and goes far deeper into the weeds than Maresca’s book.

Yup, that sounds right. Thanks for the tips. I’ll ask him in his comments section.