HJ's Wine Companion

The auspices for this book are good with more than 70% of this sixth edition having been revised and rewritten by respected and readily readable author Stephen Brook, all reviewed and refined by the redoubtable HJ, of course.

The book has the usual preambles in place: the vine, the grape varieties, growing grapes and making wine, neatly laid out here with a bit of explanation as to why the various elements of grape, vine, site, and winemaking option are important for wine’s glorious diversity of style.

I have a few issues with some of the winemaking introduction: as something of a closure analyst myself, I would point out that Stelvin is but one manufacturer’s brand of screwcap, and the collective term must therefore be screwcap. To use Stelvin may be erroneous at best, misleading at worst, as it is a good quality screwcap closure, and less good quality ones might therefore gain from such an erroneous association.

A point of reassurance – blood has not been used as a fining agent for some years.

There’s also a bit of confusion over filter pads and membranes. Pads cannot be guaranteed at a micron level, so it is membrane filters of 0.45 micron that allow the removal of both yeast and bacteria.

The new star rating is a handy at-a-glance addition to this edition. 1-4 stars appear alongside the producer name, with the stars in red if the producer represents good value. Rising stars get no stars (ha, ha) as longevity has not yet been proven. Even Bordeaux has one or two red starred properties, which has to be encouraging.

There are one or two useful pronunciation hints too, for example the ‘the “s” of Cos is sounded’; though he makes no mention of the ‘t’ in Moët (et Chandon).

There aren’t so many ‘no star-rated’ entries in the book, but the Aussie section might have included a few as it is this generation of young guns who are creating the waves of excitement likely to re-invigorate that country’s industry. The likes of Mac Forbes, Pizzini or Ten Minutes by Tractor, for short example, might have deserved a nod.

Pedantry aside, nothing takes away from the fact that this is a great one-stop-shop for top line information on the most important producers across the globe. Even three lines are enough for a sniff and an indication as to whether further research or interest is warranted. This book is likely to remain one of those essential reference works for the bookshelf, waiting to provide that crucial clue at a time of emergency requirement.

HJ's Pocket Wine Book

The book inevitably attempts to cover an impossible amount of detail in such a tiny volume, and it goes along its way to achieving this by using codes and symbols. The reader inevitably requires a degree in abbreviations and colour co-ordination to get the best from the book. However the cross-referencing is pretty straightforward once you’ve got the hang of it, though for the neophyte it will take a little time. It is worth the perseverance because this little volume does pack an holistic vinous punch significantly above its weight.

There’s a decent little food and wine section, for those moments at table when you’re confronted with the menu, and need to select the right style of wine; you may not need to know the reasoning behind the choice, just to make the right one at that moment. And HJ’s humour comes to the fore with his recommendation for coq au vin “one bottle of Chambertin in the dish, two on the table.”

For HJ followers it’s good to have a glimpse of what he’s been enjoying over the previous twelve months, and gratifying to learn there’s even a pinot grigio in there (albeit Livio Felluga’s), among the more classic Domaine de Chevalier, though HJ doesn’t divulge which vintage(s) of Chevalier have stood out in his mind as particularly pleasant (maybe have the vintages in italicised text too next year).

Into the meat of the book, and its by now familiar – having first been published in Silver Jubilee year, 1977 – alphabetical listing by country, of wines, producers, appellations and other wine-related phenomena. This is an especially good way of organising information if you don’t know if, for example, Comté Tolosan is a producer or a region.

Minor gripes include the inevitable imprecision on heavily précised technical definitions. ‘A little learning …’ (inside the back cover) really may be a dangerous thing, and is arguably too briefly explained.

It would have been good for the psyche to have kept the price under the tenner barrier, but no doubt it is discounted somewhere.