The Classic Wine Library Reader - A Taste of the World's Best Wine Writing

The Classic Wine Library is home to some of the world’s best-informed writing on wine. This anthology gathers together selected essays from nearly 30 titles, published over the last 10 years. The chapters cover topics essential to understanding the wines of a range of regions, including their history, wine growing, winemaking and signature wines.

The Classic Wine Library is home to some of the world’s most trusted expert writing on wine. This anthology gathers together selected essays from nearly 30 titles, published over the last 10 years. The chapters cover topics essential to understanding the wines of a range of regions, including their history, wine growing, winemaking and signature wines. The wide range of subjects include:

• The beginnings of viticulture – explaining how people learned to tame the wild tree-climbing Vitis vinifera and turn it into orderly vineyards;
• Addressing South Africa’s apartheid legacy – detailing efforts made by the wine industry to create equal opportunities for black and colored workers;
• Australia’s old vines – revealing the history and extent of the country’s impressive collection of ungrafted vines;
• Qvevri: the vessel of dreams – discussing how these traditional clay vessels are formed, and used to make wines;
• The wines of Japan – looking at one of the world’s most newly emerged wine-producing countries and seeing how its wines have been transformed over the last decade;
• Tavel – exploring the history and winemaking methods behind the Rhône’s famous rosé wine and learning how changing fashions in wines have affected its fortunes.

The articles feature wine regions across the globe, from Old World favorites in the heart of Europe to New World heavyweights such as South Africa and New Zealand to emerging regions like Great Britain and the southwest USA. The Classic Wine Library Reader will expand your wine knowledge and enhance your bookshelf.

List of contents

Foreword viii Introduction x Preface xii THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND The beginnings of viticulture 3 Rod Phillips The real Perignon, and the myth 13 Nicholas Faith The origins of biodynamics 21 Monty Waldin Bulgarian wine’s new era 31 Caroline Gilby MW A brief history of Austrian wine 39 Stephen Brook Changes in British wine styles 47 Stephen Skelton MW Addressing South Africa’s apartheid legacy 56 Jim Clarke VINEYARDS AND VARIETIES The sparkling wine vineyard 69 Anthony Rose Madeira vineyards old and new 79 Richard Mayson The crus of Chablis 88 Rosemary George MW Principal Côte D’Or vineyards 97 Raymond Blake Australia’s old vines 111 Mark Davidson Pinot Noir 119 Rebecca Gibb MW Riesling – ‘life is hard enough, let us drink light wine’ 127 Anne Krebiehl MW WINEMAKING Qvevri: the vessel of dreams 135 Lisa Granik MW The appassimento process 145 Michael Garner Vins doux naturels 155 Rosemary George MW Port types 161 Richard Mayson REGIONAL PERSPECTIVES Côte-Rôtie 173 Matt Walls What is Faugères? 180 Rosemary George MW Vinho Verde 190 Richard Mayson Rioja: a world within a world 200 Sarah Jane Evans MW Santorini 211 Konstantinos Lazarakis MW Arizona: climate, regions and challenges 220 Jessica Dupuy The wines of Japan 229 Anthony Rose SOME WINES OF NOTE Tavel 241 Elizabeth Gabay MW Manzanilla 249 Julian Jeffs Icewine 258 Rod Phillips The enjoyment of Cognac 268 Nicholas Faith Index 277

About the author

Julian Jeffs is one of the world’s leading authorities on Sherry and has written several books on Spanish wine. After leaving Cambridge, Jeffs got a job in the sherry trade in Jerez, working in a bodega and seeing every stage in the production of wine. Called to the Bar in 1958, he took two years off to write the first edition of Sherry. He also wrote two more books on wine and others on law. A past President of the Circle of Wine Writers, he was out-of-house series editor of Faber Wine Books. Richard Mayson is an award-winning wine writer and an authority on Portuguese wine. A lecturer and consultant, he writes for Decanter and The World of Fine Wine and is a contributor to the Oxford Companion to Wine, the Larousse Encyclopedia of Wine and the World Atlas of Wine. His books include Port and the Douro, Madeira: The islands and their wines and The wines of Portugal. He is Chair of the Decanter World Wine Awards for Port and Madeira Wine.

Product details

• Publisher: ACADEMIE DU VIN LIBRARY LIMITED
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 07.02.2024
• EAN: 9781913141714
• ISBN: 978-1-913141-71-4
• No. of pages: 286
• Dimensions: 156 mm x 234 mm x 26 mm
• Weight: 606 g
• Illustrations: 35 Illustrations, color
• Series: The Classic Wine Library
• Subject: Guides > Food & drink > Drinks