Customer Reviews

The New Sotheby's Wine Encyclopedia, Third Edition

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When I first reviewed this book, I must have been on crack. I gave it four stars, but accused it of leaving out "almost unforgivable" information. Looking through it again, I'm shaking my head, wondering if I was looking at a different book, perhaps Curious George, or Fox on Socks. The New Sotheby's Wine Encyclopedia has information that is unavailable in any other credible book on wine.

This reference is AMAZING, and belongs on every wine lover's bookshelf, even if you have The Oxford Companion to Wine, The World Atlas of Wine, Ox Clarke's Encyclopedia of Grapes, and others. Many of the maps included in this book are superior to those found in The World Atlas of Wine (strangely odd), and nowhere can you find a more comprehensive listing of major wine producers. Every wine making country in the world is covered (as far as I know), and that is something lacking in other references. I don't mean to knock other references, but each reference has a slightly different slant, each provides information that the other doesn't. To me, this book, along with the aforementioned books, completes an unsurpassed reference quadrology.

If you're an oenophile, or a wannabe oenophile, you need this book on your shelf.

I offer my sincere apologies to the author for my earlier review.

Amazon's policies will not allow me to change the rating, but make no mistake: this is a five star book.

I bought the 1997 (or brown covered) encyclopedia a few years back (which I love by the way) and decided to purchase the updated version to find new and updated information such as new wineries or ones that were upcoming and warranted coverage in the new book. I am so dissapointed. The only change I could find is a box containing information on wine quality from 1997 to 2000. Tom Stevenson didn't even change one word in his cover letter! Even the page numbers in each book have the same information! The winery ratings didn't change - or not from what I could tell. Unless I can actually see what's inside the next version, I will never purchase an version again. If you own an earlier version, do not purchase this book - it's a waste of money.

I rated it 2 stars, not because of the content, but because it is not updated as the cover indicates (see red circle). I do however question just how much Tom Stevenson puts into research with each book edition if nothing c

This book does a wonderful job of describing the various wine regions of the world, what styles the regions are known for, and who the major producers are. Although it would be too hard to outline specific vintages, the book does highlight specific varietals, cuvees, etc. that each producer is known for. A better all-around information book than Hugh Johnson's Atlas, in my opinion. Makes a good companion to a rating guide by Clarke, Johnson, or Parker.

Warning: despite the title, this book is NOT an encyclopedia. It is not a general compendium of wine related knowledge. Do not expect to find articles on topics like "shiraz," "brettanomyces," or "tannins." It is in no way comparable to The Oxford Companion to Wine.

This book is essentially a wine atlas; it is directly comparable to Johnson & Robinson World Atlas of Wine. The first 50 pages of both books are devoted to general articles on topics such as "Terroir," but the bulk of the book (550 pages) is arranged geographically by region. The regional headings correspond almost exactly to those in the Atlas. (As with the Atlas, the focus is on the old world. France alone gets over 200 pages of the 550, while the Americas (North and South), Australia and New Zealand combined get just under 160 pages. These are roughly the same proportions as the Atlas.) One major difference between Stevenson's book (which I refuse to call an "encyclopedia") and the Atlas is that Stevenson's book has few maps, and the maps that it does have are very general. No doubt this is why the book is not called an "atlas" despite its geographic organization.

As an example, consider the treatment of Barbaresco (which I happened to be drinking when I first opened this book). There are 39 pages on Italy, which begins with a 4 page overview of the country as a whole, focusing on the DOG system. The general content seems to be very well done (I am not enough of expert to say whether it is accurate). It is then divided into subregions. Northwest Italy gets 9 pages, of which 2 are general, with a paragraph each of the main regions, such as Piedmont. The bulk of the section are capsule descriptions of all of the various appellations. Because of the number, these descriptions are individually very short. The longest description, that of Barolo, is one-third of a page. Barbaresco gets three sentences. The capsule descriptions themselves seem to be very well done, with a considerable amount of information packed into a few sentences (though again I am not enough of an expert to say whether the information is accurate). The descriptions are followed by a list of preferred producers which, in the case of Barbaresco, is almost as long as the description itself. Essentially every entry has such a list of producers. While most are proportionately shorter than in the case of Barbaresco, they nonetheless form a substantial part of the total text. With that said, the Atlas uses pictures of wine labels for much the same purpose; these are more attractive, but they take up more space for the amount of information content.

Compare this with the Johnson & Robinson Atlas. Northwest Italy gets 8 pages, with 2 pages of that discusses the minor regions, followed by 2 pages for Piemonte generally, 2 pages for Barbaresco and 2 pages for Barolo. About half of the coverage consists of maps. This is a major difference between the Stevenson work and the Wine Atlas; as the name suggests the Wine Atlas has excellent detailed maps, while the Stevenson book has fewer and less detailed maps. Another difference is the major regions get more coverage in the Wine Atlas; Barbaresco gets a full page of text in the Atlas, as opposed to three sentences in Stevenson's book. You might think that the minor regions would get correspondingly less coverage in the Atlas, but this is only partially true. The difference is that Stevenson's book treats each DOC or distinctive vini da tavola as with a separate section, while the Atlas treats them as part of a sub-region. So, the region above the town of Novara has six different DOCs - Gattinara, Lessona, Bramatera, Boca, Colline Novaresi, Ghemme and Sizzano - each of which gets a separate brief description from Stevenson, while they are treated together in a couple of paragraphs by the Wine Atlas. The Atlas approach is more efficient as it generalizes about the region, with a phrase or two about most of the sub-regions. But there is some extra information in Stevenson's work; we learn, for example, that Colline Novaresi requires at least 40% Uva Rara, while there is no mention of this in the Atlas, whose authors (according to Robinson's preface) made a conscious decision to omit discussion of regions which they felt would not be of no practical interest to most wine drinkers.

So, the Wine Atlas has far better maps, and better treatment of the major regions, but doesn't provide quite as much detail on the minor regions as does Stevenson. What about total information content? Stevenson's book has 550 pages devoted to regional description, while the Atlas has significantly less - around 325 (as noted each also has about 50 pages of general text). Since the Atlas also has far more space devoted to maps, and substantially more photos as well, one might suppose that there is just more text in Stevenson's book. But on the other hand, Stevenson's book has a lot of blank space because of the layout, with the distinct heading for each region.

Finally, an important difference is that the Atlas is much easier to read. It is possible and indeed enjoyable to read through the Atlas' page on the minor regions of Northwest Italy and gain some appreciation of these regions and their relationship to one another and the major regions. Much of the same information is found in the Stevenson book, but it is much more difficult to piece together. The information about the area near Novara is found in two contiguous paragraphs in the Atlas, while it is found in seven separate paragraphs spread over six pages in the Stevenson book. Furthermore, because of the lack of a map, it would not be apparent to the non-expert that these are in fact closely related regions (unless you are looking at the Wine Atlas at the same time). So, the information is there in the Stevenson book, but you won't get a picture of region in the same way that you would from the Atlas.

In summary, Stevenson's content is good; as compared to the Atlas he provides some extra information on minor regions and even when he covers the same region he provides a different perspective from the Atlas. Nonetheless, I strongly prefer the Wine Atlas, partly because of the maps, but primarily because of the superior readability. When I'm lingering over a glass of wine in the evening I often pick the Wine Atlas to read about the region the wine came from, or even about a random region that I might want to sample. I cannot imagine doing the same with Stevenson's book. I might turn to Stevenson's book as a reference, particularly if I wanted grape variety information about a minor region, but it is not a book that lends itself to idle curiosity. On the whole, Stevenson's book might be a useful secondary reference for wine enthusiasts, but the Wine Atlas is a clear first choice.

In the "wine-drinking" countries (which excludes the US, by about a
factor of 10 per capita), a knowledge of wine at the casual level is
pretty widespread. When people want to know more, they turn to
an expert. This is typically someone who has spent his or her life
in some part of the wine trade and therefore whose livelihood has
depended on ability to satisfy, and accurately advise, customers.
There are even highly respected standards such as the British
Master of Wine examination that will establish whether a person
genuinely knows the subject and can also smell and taste all of the
nuances that he claims to. (The MW exam is notoriously revealing
and would undoubtedly depopulate overnight the ranks of the
self-appointed US wine pundits, which may be why many of them
pointedly avoid reference to it.) In the US, which lacks most of
these traditions, any musician or sportswriter or lawyer can claim
to be a wine expert and there's a fair chance they'd get a Following,
self-perpetuating on the basis of popularity.

Fortunately in the US, relying on such writers is not (yet) compulsory.
It is possible to get books by English-language writers of very high
caliber and experience, who mostly are in other countries (such as
Clive Coates, Serena Sutcliffe, Remington Norman, and Michael
Broadbent). Stevenson comes from this tradition, and although his
book is not as specialized as those of the other authors I've just
named, it is compensatingly broad. There is a desperate need for
accessible one-volume introductory wine books. Blake Ozias's "All
About Wine" served this need in the US, 25 or 35 years ago, but it
is badly out of date (not to mention out of print); it was a thin book
you could absorb in a few evenings. Stevenson's is different, it is
a genuine encyclopedia, combining succinct overviews of all kinds
of wine-making regions (including Texas and Mexico) with further
depth on producers and labels in the larger regions. The compact
snapshot on Beaujolais, for example, is superb, first laying out the
history and styles, then illustrating many producers that you will in
fact encounter in the shops. It distinguishes the deep, complex
wines that the region can make from the bubble-gum style that has
become more common recently. More generally, if you found a
random bottle of wine that you were interested in, there is a decent
chance you could look it up in Stevenson and learn much more.

This is the best single-volume general wine reference I'm currently
aware of. I have recommended it to several people who wanted to
learn more about wine and all of them have been very satisfied.

Tom Stevenson has nearly achieved a miracle with this comprehensive book on the 'World of Wine'. While giving information on every wine producing area (few writers do this), he has achieved a level of readability that will delight beginners as well as the knowledgeable. What is pleasing is that Stevenson takes his audience seriously, as well as the efforts of the wine growers. It is marvellous to see him list good growers in out of the way areas that are not the 'names' on most winewriters' lists (eg Fritz Becker Erben, Juffer Sonnenhur - and great wines at low prices they can be). He is also ready to tilt at the pomposity of institutions and regulations in an amusing style. For me the best wine book, along with Remington Norman's "Rhone Renaissance", of the last 5 years and like that book a joy to read. If there is a criticism it is that he couldn't have been allowed to give us more information. For example while he is amazingly helpful on Cru Bourgeois of the Medoc, there are few notes on the individual growers of say Tuscany,California or the Rhone. But as I said this is a book that has attempted a great deal and achieved 95% of that objective, and thus truly deserves the title of Encyclopedia.

If only one wine reference encyclopedia is to be purchased, The Southeby's Wine Encyclopedia: The Classic Reference To The Wines Of The World should surely be a strong contender: it's now in its 4th edition, has been fully updated, and is the only single volume that maps and provides in-depth details about every wine-growing region from traditional to new - including those of emerging areas. Each region receives an analysis of appellations, taste and quality, winning producers, and offerings. Add rating systems, small color photos of labels and vineyard descriptions and you have a real winner.

I'm a professional of wine working in Shanghai. I purchased this book in Amazon after the advise of a friend. I found the book to be interesting and a complete work, but I think his view sometimes lacks actuality. Although the author's mastery in wine tasting is out of discussion, his presentation of tasting is outdated: nowadays nobody can asses the origin of a wine just by tasting: the examples the author proposes are valid just in a ideal world without Australian Shiraz-Mourvedre, South African Cabernet-Merlot or Californian Zinfandel (otherwise rightly commented in his book).
I can't help but bring here the review of "Toro" wine growing area. The author dispatches this area with few words, the last of them to tell us "among the many dirty cellars I have seen in my life, this one in Toro is the filthiest". This is the only comment he makes about wine cellars on that area. I bought also "The Oxford Companion to Wine" and Robert Parker's sixth edition of Wine buyer's guide. In "The Oxford Companion to Wine", edited by Jancis Robinson, in this region "a small number of producers have fostered a move away from the heavy, bulk reds of recent times, notably Manuel Farina, Vega Sauco and Frutos Villar". Concise and accurate, like all the rest in this excellent book.
Mr. Parker has tasted the wines more carefully: this region" has adopted modern technology, and the results have been some rich, full-bodied, deeply flavoured, southern Rhone-like wine from wineries like Farina. They taste similar to the big, lush, peppery wines of France's Chateauneuf-du-Pape and Gigondas, and they represent astonishing values..." He found one of the wines produced there to be outstanding, and several others to be good.
Nobody would expect from a wine taster to have the last news from every piece of vineyard on the world, but the word from such a well-known, reputable professional is too heavy to be delivered so lightly.

What can I say about the latest edition except bigger and better. I love the breakdown of the appellations such as the difficult French and Italian AOCs and DOCs (and DOCGs). The layout is more accessible than the Oxford though lacks the breadth and depth of the latter text. Being in the wine business for many years I must recommend this as one of the cornerstones of any wine library and the 3rd book to buy for your wine knowledge after the Oxford Companion to Wine (1st) and the World Atlas of Wine (2nd)

This book gives a fair treatment on Bordeaux and American wines, in which it gives a general review on each major chateau or producer. Although a tasting review on each vintage for those producers will make it even better. For other wine regions, including the great Burgundy, Rhone, Italy and Spanish wines, it only briefly review each appellation, without much useful information on producers, which is a great key in selecting those wines.