Miami sommeliers share their favorite books, movies, and TV shows for the wine enthusiast.

Jacqueline Coleman

Amanda Fraga

Bianca Sanon

Luis Martinez

Rachel Coddington

Daniel Toral

Micah Winecoff

Jacqueline Pirolo

Sideways is fun, but my favorite wine documentary is Blood into Wine. Mainly, I love this one because it follows one of my favorite musicians, Maynard Keenan (lead singer of Tool, A Perfect Circle, etc…), and his winery, Caduceus Cellars in Arizona. You’ll get to see a young James Suckling before he was “James Suckling,” and learn about winemaking in Arizona. Very cool documentary for people who may not be “wine people.” Books… currently reading through Gérard Bertrand’s book called Wine, Moon, and Stars about his journey into winemaking and biodynamic farming. Gerard is the MAN when it comes to a passion for biodynamic farming. So, if that’s of interest to you, his book is a good one. There’s also a book called Wine Reads, which is a collection of short stories of wine writing. Nice little book to keep by the bed. Jacqueline Coleman

Educating Peter, the Somm movies, and any books written by Terry Theise or Kermit Lynch, and while doing all these readings…drink! People and places in Miami are doing amazing things with wine specials and events. Go to them (once everything reopens)! Ask questions! Note: most somms love to talk, so ask questions. Beware the response may be longer than expected! Lastly, when you get home, google the wine, maybe keep a journal? Amanda Fraga

1. The Battle for Wine and Love: or How I Saved the World from Parkerization by Alice Feiring. 2. Biodynamic Wine Demystified by Nicolas Joly. 3. Natural Resistance  2014 documentary by Jonathan Nositter. It does a beautiful job of showing people what the foundation of low intervention winemaking is all about — the land. Bianca Sanon

These 3 books really inspired me. I haven’t found a movie or documentary that transmits the same feeling as learning through reading and imagination.
– Wine & war
– Adventures on the wine route
– A hedonist in the cellar Daniel Toral

For beginners, Wine Folly has a great website and books that are easy to read with great and clear pictures and diagrams. One of my favorite wine documentaries is “Discover the wines of…” Burgundy, Northern Italy, etc. You can find this program on YouTube. “A year in Champagne” is great. They also cover Burgundy and Port. Rachel Coddington

Karen MacNeil’s ‘The Wine Bible’ is the first wine book I ever read, its approachable to someone new but also complex enough to learn something new even if it’s your 10th time reading it. Besides actual tasting, reading is my preferred method of learning. Luis Martinez

For books, I’m pretty straight forward and boring: Wine Atlas, Wine Encyclopedia, Wine Bible. The first Somm movie was pretty cool and inspiring as it came out about a year after I started getting into wine. Micah Winecoff

Books: Vino Italiano The Regional Wines of Italy, Secrets of The Sommeliers.
Documentaries: SOMM – I think this brought light to a lot of people about the world of sommeliers, how passionate they are, and what it takes to get your certification. Jacqueline Pirolo