Last month WineWise: Your Complete Guide To Understanding, Selecting, and Enjoying Wine by Steven Kolpan, Brian H. Smith and Michael A. Weiss (John Wiley & Sons; Hardcover $29.95) was named the 2009 Georges Duboeuf Wine Book of the Year.

That prestigious award was established to recognize authors whose books help promote and advance wine appreciation and education. But that’s not all the accolades this illustrated book won. This month WineWise also received  the 2009 James Beard Foundation Book Award for the best book in the Beverage category.

The three authors have been wine professors  at The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York for more than two decades. (Yes, when you study food — you do  have such profs!) Their easy to read and comprehend book, provides an intro to the different styles, flavors and costs associated with wine varietals in ten major wine producing regions of the world. It gives you confidence to enjoy wine more.

In WineWise, the authors provide a practical and informative approach to understanding wine — one easy enough for the newbie to understand and chock full of info for the enophile. The authors — of course — also provide tips on pairing wine with food.

If you buy one book on wine, do consider this!  It’s available at bookstores for $29.95 or at amazon.com for under $20.