My friend Joe likes to say that one great thing about living in Minnesota is that we have "so much syrah weather." Our near-endless winters do provide ample opportunity for quaffing this hearty varietal, but they also give us a boatload of time to pore over books about wine. Here are some of my favorites from 2009.

For the novice: Local food and beverage guru Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl's "Drink This: Wine Made Simple" (Ballantine, $26) is a fab primer on the world of wine, allowing the reader to delve as deeply as he or she so desires. It's geared for twentysomethings, making it a spot-on choice for a tough finding-just-the-right-gift demographic.

For the intermediate: In "Wine Secrets" (Quirk Books, $19.95), Marnie Old compiles, as the subtitle notes, "Advice From Winemakers, Sommeliers and Connoisseurs." Whether it's wise winemaker David Ramey on how to assess body or British sage Jancis Robinson on how to decide which wines are ready to drink, this little volume provides invaluable information and lively writing.

For the expert: A half-decade ago, Jonathan Nossiter rocked the wine world with his pointed documentary "Mondovino." Now he's back -- if he ever actually went away -- with what's basically a companion piece, "Liquid Memory: Why Wine Matters" (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $25). Nossiter is a bit too my-way-or-the-highway for me, but this is a riveting read that raises provocative questions -- which no doubt is his point.

For the fun-and-pun-lover: Randall Grahm has been tilting against wine windmills for decades now, whether spearheading the Rhone Rangers movement or naming serious wines after prisons and French flying saucers. "Been Doon So Long: A Randall Grahm Anthology" (University of California Press, $34.95) is my favorite wine book of the year, both for its insights and its irreverence. I could almost feel and hear the delightful Grahm in the room as I read this book.

For the viniferous voyeur in all of us: Extraordinary photos by Andrew French make "Living With Wine" (Potter, $75) the ultimate coffee-table tome for oenophiles. Great wine and eye-popping design share equal billing with Samantha Nestor's informative text, but the art takes center stage (or is it cellar stage?) throughout.

For the lexicographer: Wordsmith Paul Dickson has a new take on the "bumfuzzled" crowd. "Drunk: The Definitive Drinker's Dictionary" (Melville House, $19.95) is a handy and dandy compendium of words connoting inebriation: not in Kansas anymore, obnoxicated, gazumped, Betty Booped and, of course, Boris Yeltsinned. Once one reaches that stage, he can and probably should be referred to as (wait for it ...) Count Drunkula.

Bill Ward • bill.ward@startribune.com Read Ward on Wine at startribune.com/blogs/wine.