Overview
Authoritative, international and up-to-date, The New Sotheby's Wine Encyclopedia is arranged geographically and combines maps and photographs with information on all wine-growing areas, profiles of distinguished producers and assessments of individual wines. The book's easy-reference style, and wealth of practical advice, make it an unrivaled source of information for all lovers of wine — from the occasional drinker to the connoisseur.Wines of the World. Distinguished wine authority Tom Stevenson examines the viticultural history of each wine-making country, discussing its wine-producing regions and the current reputation of its wines. He analyzes the factors affecting the taste and quality of each region's wines — location, aspect, soil, microclimates, grape varieties, and methods of viticulture and vinification — before assessing its appellations, the individual wine producers (chateaux or wineries), and, of course, the wines themselves.
Enjoying Wine. Tom Stevenson provides practical guidelines on wine tasting, while an "author's choice" chart at the end of each section lists the very best wines. A star-rating system identifies the finest producers and highlights those offering the best value. A "taste chart" explains how to identify the flavors in a wine, and a "troubleshooter's guide" spots common wine flaws.
Whether you are a newcomer wanting to explore the pleasures of wine or a wine enthusiast looking for inspiration, The New Sotheby's Wine Encyclopedia is the book to consult again and again.
Author Biography: Tom Stevenson has been writing about wine for 25 years and is the author of 20 books and the winner of 26 literary awards including, on three occasions, Wine Writer of the Year. In April 1999 he received the coveted Wine Literary Award, America's lifetime achievement award for wine writing. Only nine other authors have received this award prior to Tom Stevenson. The first edition of his Sotheby's Wine Encyclopedia, published in 1988, won a record five awards, and The New Sotheby's Wine Encyclopedia, published in 1997 by Dorling Kindersley, won the Prix du Champagne Lanson Gold Label Award. These editions have sold more than 400,000 copies in 12 languages.
Editorials
From Barnes & Noble
The Barnes & Noble ReviewAnyone with more than a passing interest in wine will easily become absorbed in this encyclopedia. Even if you're not interested in, say, South African wines or canopy management, the fact is that Tom Stevenson knows so much and writes so well that you'll be intrigued anyhow.
Weighing in at 5-plus pounds and 600 pages long, The New Sotheby's Wine Encyclopedia covers the wine world beautifully, proceeding region by region throughout the world. Its approach is extremely thorough. The section on France (pp. 58-129), for example, starts with a brief history of French wine laws, advice on reading a French wine label, and an overview of the country's viticultural regions. For a region like Bordeaux, Stevenson offers an essay on the region's trade, a detailed full-color map, the classifications of Bordeaux wines (premiers crus, etc.) and then on to the different producers within each appellation of Bordeaux (Medoc, Blaye, Saint Estèphethe, etc.). The section concludes with an Author's Choice of the best Bordeaux wines.
In all, the encyclopedia covers more than 4,000 appellations and wine styles, with profiles of almost 2,000 individual producers and practical guidance on wine tasting, buying, and storing. There's more information than I've ever seen about American winemaking in states other than California, Oregon, Washington, and New York, and more about Canada, too.
For all of its weight and scope, the encyclopedia is surprisingly full of tone and opinion. Here's what Stevenson says about France: "France makes the best and the worst wines in the world. No other country can rival France for the quality and diversity of its wine but its success is dependent on the sheer size of its production which has always been a double-edged sword." And Spain: "Spain continues to overperform, providing more wines of real interest and quality than the most optimistic critic could reasonably hope for." Or on the evolution of Valpolicella: "In the first edition I agreed with Robert Parker, the American wine writer, when he described most Valpolicella as 'insipid industrial garbage,' but technology has changed things over the last ten years. While most are still insipid and industrial, relatively few are garbage." Evaluations like these will keep the reader turning to this giant book again and again. (Ginger Curwen)
Clive Coates
A tour de force, a triumphant success for which I have the highest praise.Robert Parker
Tom Stevenson has struck gold again.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.AUTHOR'S REPLY TO EXCELLENT LIBRARY REVIEW
I greatly appreciate the excellent and studious review by Wendy Miller in the Library Journal, but would like to add a mischievous comment to clarify her claim that 'the glossary on grape varieties is a condensed dead ringer for Janice Robinson's Vine, Grapes, and Wines (1986. Out of Print)'. Yes, it may be viewed as that. Equally, Jancis' book could be seen as an expansion of my six-page ABC of Grape Varieties, which was published by Decanter magazine over two issues in 1980 and 1981.