The Internet's best cellars

Wine-making and drinking is a global concern peopled by passionate professionals and amateurs, so it is hardly surprising that those in the wine world have taken to the Internet with such enthusiasm. A quick call on the services of a well-known Web search engine reveals there are more than 3,000 sites dedicated to the making, marketing and appreciation of wine.

Among the best of the enthusiasts' sites is that of Tom Cannavan, IT training manager at Glasgow University and wine writer (pictured left), whose six-part wine appreciation course is available on the site - at http://www.gla.ac.uk/~tbc1b/l - along with tasting notes from his cellar of more than 600 bottles. He also gives "cheap and cheerful" recommendations on wines available at under £7 in the UK's high streets and supermarkets. There is plenty more to amuse and inform visitors to this site and the fact that it is updated on an almost daily basis adds greatly to its appeal.

If chewy, cheesy or chocolaty would not be the first words that came to your mind when describing a vintage claret, then take a look at Robin Garr's site at http://www.wine-lovers-page.com/ where he offers a comprehensive dictionary of wine-tasting terms explained in plain (American) English. His is also a wide-ranging site with tasting notes, discussion groups via "bulletin board" and "chat rooms", links to Internet wine sellers and other wine appreciation sites, hints on building a wine collection and his so-called "wine-tasting toolbox" that enables wine lovers at any stage of expertise to taste wines analytically and record their findings.

Garr is a wine writer, broadcaster and journalist based in Louisville, Kentucky, and his site has won most of the accolades available on the Internet. Both his and Cannavan's pages make ideal jumping-off points for wine lovers on the Web.

Those with a thirst for more would do well to visit the All About Wine site at http://www.reedbooks.co.uk/docs/mitchell/wine/allabout.htm where there is an edited version of the best-selling Hugh Johnson's Story Of Wine (Mitchell Beazley, £22.50). Visitors to this site can read about the history and practicalities of wine-making, from choosing the variety of grape to the effects of climate and soil. There are also chapters on tasting and storing.

For a quick answer to any wine-related query, turn to Brad and Dri Brown's Internet Guide to Wine at http://www2.bath.ac.uk/~su3ws/wine-faq/mainpage.html. The site is showing its age a bit, it isn't pretty and some of its links are a bit rusty, but the answers to most surfers' frequently asked questions (FAQ in geek-speak) are easy to find. Cheers. n

By Mike Docker