Product Description

Now available in paperback, Oz Clarke's New Encyclopedia of Wine has been updated to reflect the latest developments in the world of wine. This A-to-Z reference includes more than 1,500 entries covering the world's leading wines, wine regions, wine producers, and grapes, and 700 color photographs, maps, wine labels, and other illustrations. As accessible for the beginner as it is informative for the expert, the New Encyclopedia demystifies today's burgeoning world of wine with all the wit and expertise Oz Clarke's readers have come to expect.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #506034 in Books
• Published on: 2003-10-13
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 416 pages

From Amazon.com
The prolific Oz Clarke, winner of both the Julia Child and James Beard awards for wine writing, takes readers on a structured and stylish whirlwind tour of the world's wine-producing regions in Oz Clarke's New Encyclopedia of Wine, a 416-page tome full of glossy, full-color pages packed to their sturdy binding with photos, maps, and opinionated enological overview.

Early chapters summarize the making of red, white, sparkling, and fortified wines; give tips on keeping, serving, and tasting wine; and vividly detail the traits of some of the globe's grape-growing geography. Clarke's prose is full of tasty turns of phrase: tannic Merlots are full of "gum-drying toughness," oak-aged Sauvignon Blanc is a "half-way house" between Chardonnay and French Sauvignon, and lightly aged Riesling smells like "petrol." But a couple of his pronouncements are just plain infuriating: calling the political Classification of 1855--drawn up by the Bordeaux Chamber of Commerce and based on the prices the wines fetched then and still extant in this day of vineyard consolidation and ownership by insurance companies and makers of luxury luggage--generally "still a remarkably accurate guide" may strike one as oddly musty thinking, given his revisionist reviews of Chateaux d'Issan and Lynch-Bages appearing later in the book. But this is wine we're talking about here: one person's "ugh!" is another's "strange but delightful," and wine researchers and armchair sippers alike will find the latter 85 percent of the New Encyclopedia to be the real body of the work: an information-packed, browsable, alphabetical gazetteer of wines, regions, grape types, and producers written in the sometimes enraging, always engaging, wonderful words of Oz. --Tony Mason

From Booklist
Not as wide-ranging as The Oxford Companion, with entries limited to wines, wine regions, producers, and grape varieties. We reviewed the previous edition in our February 15, 1994, issue, calling it "a delight to browse."

Joe Czerwinski, Wine Enthusiast, March 2000
"Clarke's style provides an easy read: Sharp without being sarcastic, witty without being flippant, he communicates well with novice and knowledgeable wine enthusiasts alike."

Customer Reviews

a great reference
Oz Clarke, of Decanter magazine fame, has done it yet again. This is a beautiful book presenting complete, yet concise evaluations and descriptions of the world's wine regions and producers. As this book was written in 1999, and new producers are blooming everywhere, all the time, the book is not 'per-se' complete. However, Clarke's efforts provide anyone, from the novice drinker to the wine-master, a valuable reference. What I think sets this book apart from other wine encyclopedias, is Clarke himself. His palate is much more keen and his descriptions much more accurate than those of, say, Robert Parker, whose lifelong addiction to highly tannic, alcoholic, "fruit-bomb" wines has completely killed his palate. Clarke is one of the best in the business, and you can have confidence that you bought more than just a prety book for the coffee table.

Enough information without overkill
This is a reference I turn to regularly. I like the fact that you can start with a general term like Beaujolais, and the bold-print entries will take you to more specific entries such as Moulin-a-Vent and Fleurie which are recognized crus of the Beaujolais district. I also like that the author gives his opinion about what vintners are improving their production and which properties may be resting on withered laurels. You still may want a specialized book on wines (California wines say, or German wines) but for the overall view, this is a good choice. In contrast to one review that said this is not as complete as the Oxford Companion to Wine, I find it gives more attention to German wines than does the Oxford Companion. I picked up the Oxford Companion to Wine in a bookstore, looked up a few entries and got disgusted at its omissions, and bought a different wine guide.

Informative, well organized, and entertaining
If you're looking for an informative, well organized, and entertaining wine encyclopedia (versus, say, an obtuse, sloppy, and dull wine encyclopedia), then look no further. Generally speaking, I find encyclopedia-type wine books to be rather dull and a little thin on information, but Oz Clarke has truly succeeded. Clarke's writing style is concise, informative, and amusing. Not an easy feat for an encyclopedia. This 400+ page encyclopedia is an A to Z of wines, wine regions, producers, and grape varieties.