Book reviews:

The Sotheby’s Wine Encyclopedia

Published on February 18, 2012

This is the fifth guise of this encyclopaedia which was first published in 1988. The hugely respected Tom Stevenson has revised and updated it, expanding its weighty girth by some 72 pages, or nearly 11%.


The Grapevine … from the science to the practice of growing vines for wine

Published on January 13, 2012

The book’s stated audience is undergraduate and post-graduate students, viticulturists and winemakers, and given that the authors have a superfluity of research post-nominals to their names, one can expect some seriously high-brow content.


Rioja and North West Spain

Published on November 2, 2011

It’s not the snappiest of book titles, but it does do what it says on the tin. It’s the fifth book (Bordeaux, California, Champagne, Tuscany) in a series of similarly titled tomes from the team at magazine “the world of fine wine”, this one written by respected experts on Spanish wines.


Authentic Wine, by Jamie Goode and Sam Harrop MW

Published on October 9, 2011

I’d imagined this was going to be a book about natural wines under a slightly different name to draw us in. But the reader quickly grasps this book is about more than the narrow, ‘natural’, narrative. It embraces the broadest discussion of wines of place within a treatise around the various environmental issues affecting viticulture and winemaking.


Wine, Terroir and Climate Change, by John Gladstones

Published on August 30, 2011

Gladstone’s earlier book – Viticulture and Environment (1992) – was a seminal text on climatic and geomorphological influences on grape growing, and any sequel to that book has been too long in the waiting. In this volume the agricultural scientist explores the history and science of soil and climate in wine production, and critiques climate change in the viticultural context.


A taste of the world of wine, Patrick Iland, Peter Gago, Andrew Caillard, Peter Dry

Published on August 2, 2011

This book offers a taster, as in an introduction, to the wine world, and the erudition of these four authors augurs well for an enjoyable and edifying read.


Winemaking Problems Solved, edited by Christian E. Butzke

Published on July 17, 2011

This book looks at categories of winemaking and breaks them up into a question and answer format to deal with problems in the winery.


Managing Wine Quality, volume 2, edited by Andrew G. Reynolds

Published on May 14, 2011

Volume 2 of this erudite tale moves on to issues of winemaking and their effects on wine quality and style. Further chapters are commissioned from specialists around the world, and a few major yeast, (and other winemaking products) manufacturers also share their expertise.


Managing Wine Quality, volume 1, edited by Andrew G. Reynolds

Published on April 28, 2011

This is self-evidently serious kit for the professional with individual chapters commissioned from senior academicians and researchers at universities and research institutes around the world.


The Wines of Madeira, Trevor Elliott

Published on March 27, 2011

Elliott is a wine educator of very long standing, and in this book he brings together many years of specialist knowledge about Madeira.

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