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If you want to learn about wines of the world and advance your comprehension of wine production, grape varieties, appellations, and individual wineries, understand the factors (such as location, soil, climate, and methods of viticulture) that affect the taste and nose, and visit your wine shop with a list of quality wines to explore, Tom Stevenson is the man to read. Author of 12 books (including
Champagne and
The Millennium Champagne & Sparkling Wine Guide), three-time winner of the Wine Writer of the Year award, and columnist for
Wine magazine, Stevenson has the gift of taking vast quantities of knowledge and experience and translating them into lucid, sparkling prose, easily graspable by the novice, yet still interesting and instructive to the connoisseur.
Arranged geographically, with nearly 100 maps, profiles on top producers, and valuable Author's Choice charts for each region, the Wine Encyclopedia covers the wines of Europe (from Great Britain and Switzerland to Southeast Europe, Greece, and the Levant), as well as wines from North and South Africa, North and South America, Australia, New Zealand, and Asia. In addition, there's a guide to wine and food (pairing fois gras with a Champagne or Sauterne, for example, and claret or Cabernet Sauvignon with beef), a guide to wine flavors (making sense of descriptors such as fig, gooseberry, violet, and hay), a list of good vintages, and a glossary of tasting and technical terms, distinguishing "cheesy" and "chewy" from "creamy" and "corked." Enhanced by beautiful pictures of vineyards, wine labels, and Stevenson himself demonstrating the art of wine tasting, from examining and nosing the wine to spitting it out, this a visually beautiful as well as an informative volume. As sumptuous as an elegant Tuscan Barolo, as rewarding as a Sarget de Gruaud-Larose from Bordeaux, as pleasing as a Ferreira port, the Sotheby Wine Encyclopedia is a remarkable tome of oenological erudition. --Stephanie Gold
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From Library Journal
DK's offerings are nearly unrivaled for clarity, design, authority, and superb organization, and this newest title maintains the same high standard, making it easy to find information. This updated edition of Sotheby's Wine Encyclopedia (1988) has been expanded from 480 to 600 pages. The introduction covers "factors affecting taste and quality," with excellent discussions on assessing and tasting wine, vine training, and soil ("rock-speak"); the glossary on grape varieties is a condensed dead ringer for Jancis Robinson's Vine, Grapes, and Wines (1986. o.p.). The body of the work is divided by country, region, or continent, then further by appellations or areas. Lavish maps, illustrations, and photographs impart sensuality to these minilessons, and each important geographical chunk ends with a list of recommended wines, called "author's choice." Stevenson is an internationally respected expert (thrice "Wine Writer of the Year") who brooks little departure from tradition. For example, when rating wines (his system ranges from 1 to 3 stars), he rarely assigns a three to outstanding wines outside of France. Among his recommendations are many available and affordable choices, yet in uncompromising fashion, he suggests that the budget alternative to champagne with caviar should be mineral water. An essential purchase for wine collections.?Wendy Miller, Lexington P.L., Ky.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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