Fine Wine Guide Hb [Hardcover]

Clarke Spurrier (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 4, 2001

Wine experts Oz Clarke and Steven Spurrier have joined forces to put together this authoritative guide to the world's best wines. Organized by country and wine region, the book lists the best wines, best vineyards, and best producers.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In Clarke & Spurrier's Fine Wine Guide, Oz Clarke--the one-man brand of stylishly iconoclastic wine reportage--and Steven Spurrier--author, merchant, teacher, and patron saint of Napa Valley (ever since a Stag's Leap Cabernet and a Chateau Montelena Chard bested Bordeaux and Burgundy at his infamous 1976 Paris tasting)--present a valuable and handsome reference work brimming with maps and enlightened opinion. From the Cote d'Or and Canada to New South Wales and Walla Walla, serious enophiles will find much to inform their fine-wine choices, whether investing ("Buy double what you want, sell half for double what you paid, and drink for free") or cellaring ("To have kept a bottle too long is far, far worse than to have drunk it before its time"). Vintage recommendations for this "new edition" top out at 1998, and Oz's subjective list of "Great American Wines" will no doubt push a few noses out of joint--assuming readers can pull theirs out of the informed pages of Clarke & Spurrier's Fine Wine Guide. --Tony Mason --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Here's yet another pocket wine guide, this one by two respected authorities. (Spurrier is the fellow who put together the Paris tasting of 1976 that was won by two Napa Valley wines, putting California wines on the world map.) The guide has A-to-Z listings of the best producers, divided by country - or in the case of France, by region - and offers detailed vintage information. It's a particularly good resource for devotees of French wine, because these wines get by far the most space. For an all-around pocket reference, I like Oz Clarke's Pocket Wine Guide (Harcourt Brace, $12), now available in its 1999 version. It's packed with information about producers, varietals, vintages and wine-producing regions, all written in Clarke's accessible style." -- San Jose Mercury News, November 4, 1998 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Illustrated; Revised edition (January 4, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316855979
• ISBN-13: 978-0316855976
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An invaluable guide to the world of wine, June 11, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Clarke and Spurrier's Fine Wine Guide: A Connoisseur's Bible (Hardcover)

Mystified by Morgon ? Not sure whether you should keep that bottle of Chateauneuf du Pape or quaff it now ? Clarke and Spurrier have the answers in this easy to follow guide which covers the main wine producing countries. Its certainly a must if you're a channel hopping wine shopper. Wines are carefully described and each entry includes a list of the best years, the best producers and when the wine is ready to drink. Best of all, here's a book that's free of the old tea chests and tcp school of wine tasting, preferring instead to use straightforward, easy to understand descriptions of taste and colour. Taking it with us to France recently led to the discovery of several wines we hadn't tried before because we weren't sure what they were. Highly recommended.