Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #482391 in Books
• Published on: 2002-11-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 336 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Wine writer Clarke helps direct armchair connoisseurs to the right vineyards in this revised second edition of his beautifully illustrated guide to the world's great wines. Country by country and region by region, Clarke leads the reader through each location via panoramic maps so meticulously rendered by Keith and Sue Gage that they often convey the feeling of viewing the countryside from a low-flying plane. Beginning with a succinct explanation of how climate, weather conditions and soil affect the growth and taste of grapes, Clarke then moves into a geographical consideration of wines all over the globe, from Austria to Bulgaria to California. With each region-be it the Rhone Valley in France or the Brunello di Montalcino in Italy-Clarke covers history, geography, origins, appellations and classifications. Illustrations inform the reader about soil types and land patterns and show where specific vineyards lie. His margins are filled with samples of wine labels, bottles, various charts of details, keys to the maps and more, all combining to make this first-person account a handsome and truly informative resource.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author
Oz Clarke is one of the world's leading wine experts. He has won all the major wine writing awards, including the Glenfiddich (three times), the André Simon, the Wine Guild (three times), the Julia Child, and the James Beard awards. He is a regular columnist for the Wine Enthusiast. He lives in London.

Customer Reviews

A Great Look into Vineyard Topography
This book is unlike most other wine atlases. Instead of showing a flat map with regions outlined and highlighted, this book shows illustrared maps from a 3/4 aspect so you can 'see' the elevation and vineyards.

A very unique book and one that I refer to often in my studies.

Under-appreciated
This is a wonderful atlas. It differs from other offerings in that it includes panoramic maps, giving the reader a real feel for "the lay of the land". The book also has regional "keys", providing information on grapes grown, aspect, soil and climate. The accompanying text is less scholarly in tone than The World Atlas of Wine but nearly as informative.

If I were to recommend one reference, it would be the above referenced atlas. But if your bookshelf has room for two, get this as well.

It takes you there
I can hardly judge the author's knowledge about wine itself, as I am definitely not a connaisseur. I just enjoy wine and want to know a little better about it. It also happens that I like to travel too. So, I thought it was a pity that nobody has reviewed this nice book before.

What I can say is that this book is very well done, with an interesting introduction, and maps that try to replicate the vegetation you would find in the actual places. It really gives you the sense of traveling to the area he is describing, which is not bad considering the aim of this type of book.

Comparing this to Hugh Johnson's Wine Atlas, this one feels much more like a travelogue, a quite good one, whereas Johnson's seems to be more informative about growers, more like a mapped encyclopedia. If you are just a curious wine consumer and can have both, start with this then go to Johnson's. If you can't, perhaps a good idea might be to buy this one and Johnson's Pocket Wine Book...or the other way round. It's a tough decision.