The Wines of Burgundy: Revised Edition (Hardcover)

~ Clive Coates M.W. (Author)
Key Phrases: les grèves, les gouttes, les cailles, Clos de Vougeot, Domaine Bouchard Père, Vieilles Vignes (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A solid, in-depth reference on Burgundy -- the best, in fact, since Mr. Coates's own Côte d'Or. . . . An invaluable starting point. "--New York Times

"Coates' magnum opus remains invaluable."--Sf Chronicle

"The serious wine lover would be well advised to invest in this tome."--The Art of Eating

"Resembles the elegant, complex wines that are its subject."--Bloomberg News

"Highly recommended to anyone with even the slightest interest in Burgundy."--The World of Fine Wine

Product Description

Ten years after the publication of the highly acclaimed, award-winning Côte D'Or: A Celebration of the Great Wines of Burgundy, the "Bible of Burgundy," Clive Coates now offers this thoroughly revised and updated sequel. This long-awaited work details all the major vintages from 2006 back to 1959 and includes thousands of recent tasting notes of the top wines. All-new chapters on Chablis and Côte Chalonnaise replace the previous volume's domaine profiles. Coates, a Master of Wine who has spent much of the last thirty years in Burgundy, considers it to be the most exciting, complex, and intractable wine region in the world, and the one most likely to yield fine wines of elegance and finesse. This book is an indispensable guide for amateur and professional alike by one of the world's leading wine experts, writing with his habitual expertise, lucidity, and unequaled firsthand knowledge.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 896 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press; 1 edition (May 12, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520250508
• ISBN-13: 978-0520250505
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 7.5 x 2.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #33,005 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

51 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars New... but is it improved?, April 16, 2008

By	Chambolle (Bainbridge Island, WA USA) - See all my reviews

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If you go back and look at the reviews for the first edition of this book, "Cote d'Or," you will see I could not heap enough praise on it. I awaited this revision to see a compendium of Mr. Coates' tasting notes for the years beyond 1996, where the original volume dropped off. A lot has happened in Burgundy in a decade, and I expected to see Clive's typically insightful comments on the new wave of young winemakers, the effect of global warming, the continued move toward organic and biodynamic methods, the move away from exaggerated use of new oak and so on. And I really wanted to see which domaines might find their way for the first time into the extended section of detailed domaine profiles; what new tidbits of news would be included about the old standbys, and whether any would be pulled because Mr. Coates believes they have lost their touch.

Well, the first book was a tough act to follow, and I'm not yet convinced this one lives up to its promise. I may get more comfortable with the new version with time, but I think the decision to abandon the detailed profiles of key domaines that took up about 350 pages of the first edition was not merely bad judgment, but a fatal error.

The introductory section was and remains a nice, succinct overview. The section on Chablis seems quite perfunctory. Biss & Smith's "Wines of Chablis" (Writers International 2000) has more to offer, albeit it is not as up to date. The section on the Cote Chalonnaise is short but seems quite useful, and I know of no single volume in English devoted to it that would compete.

But all in all, it seems the Lord taketh more than he giveth back in this revision.

One more quibble -- the tasting notes swallow up most of the volume, not because new vintages are added, but because they are now in a large type version. Being ten years on since the first edition myself, perhaps I should appreciate this. But it strikes me as padding. Had the notes in this book been done up in the original typeface, the new book would be perhaps 600 pages long, I'd guess, or about 250 pages shorter than the original. and at that, there would be plenty of room for the extended profiles of the great domaines. So why was this done? I'll state the cynical view here... it would have required a very considerable effort to update the original domaine profiles, so rather than attempt that daunting task, they were simply yanked.

All in all, it seems to me the book adds a tiny bit by reaching out beyond the Cote d'Or, but takes away a great deal by eliminating the fascinating domaine profiles that were the heart and soul of the original volume.

Don't get me wrong, it's still a very good book. But for my high expectations, based on the original, perhaps I would be raving about it here. But grading in context -- as Clive Coates would be the first to advocate -- it doesn't sing "grand cru."

I think I will find myself going back to the ten year old "Cote d'Or" more often than I will turn to this one.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Good Sequel, May 12, 2008

By	Axel Axel - See all my reviews

Clive Coates' previously published "Cote d'Or" is unsurpassed in its comprehensive research on Burgundy's vineyards, vintages, history, and profiles of Burgundy's domaines. He was a much younger man then, active in his profession and in better health, hence the gargantuan effort he poured into that epic volume is impossible to duplicate over a decade later by a man in retirement for several years now and in lesser health. I don't view his just published "The Wines of Burgundy" a "revised edition" as the subtitle states, but rather a sequel. In this sense he has published a fine volume that extends the reach of his first book on Burgundy. Both volumes should be on every Burgundy lover's desk.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars wines of burgundy-clive coates,revised edition., June 29, 2008

By	Michael Piperoglou (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I was eagerly awaiting Clive Coates update to the wines of burgundy as I love red burgundy in particular. I will say from the outset that it is quite different and not as monumental an effort as volume one but what a hard act to follow!It was good to have the tasting review update on the wines over the last 10 years as a reference as well as the vintage assessments but I have the impression that it takes up too much of the new volume and somehow detracts from it.I would have loved more details on the domaine profiles that he has upgraded or included for the first time,especially the younger vignerons e.g. Fourrier.It would have added so much to the book.There's something about the typesetting I don't like compared to the old volume but perhaps I'm being too picky.The colour maps are very good and better than the black and white ones of the first volume.Overall still worth getting to have as a reference for burgundy lovers.