CHAMPAGNE
4000 Champagnes
Richard Juhlin
Flammarion, $60Swedish Champagne expert Richard Juhlin holds the record for tasting more Champagnes than anyone else, making him most qualified to write this hefty tome about Champagne. He covers just about everything one needs to know, and more, about the world’s greatest sparkling wine — the history, the grapes, the growing areas and grape varieties, the different styles (blanc de blancs, blanc de noirs, rosé, etc.) of Champagne and the styles of the different Champagne houses, other wines of the area, food matching, buying, serving, storing and tasting. He also describes the towns and villages of the region. Juhlin includes a small section on sparkling wines worldwide, and another about celebrities and Champagne.
The second part of the book consists of tasting notes, including descriptions of the various Champagne houses and ratings of the most important wine-producing villages, winemakers and wines. And, bien sur, Juhlin offers his own personal favorites and several other best lists. Devoted Champagne lovers will be pleased to add this book to their collection.
Champagne: How the World’s Most Glamorous Wine Triumphed over War and Hard Times
Don and Petie Kladstrup
Morrow, $23.95The Kladstrups special interest is wine and war. Their previous book, Wine & War: The French, the Nazis, and the Battle for France’s Greatest Treasure, also dealt with both. This time they cover many more years, starting with a battle fought by Attila the Hun in A.D. 451 in the Champagne region. They describe the days when Champagne was red, had no bubbles and was frequently cloudy! The authors feature historical figures like Dom Pérignon, who, they claim, toiled to keep Champagne bubble-free, and Louis XIV, who preferred his Champagne sans bubbles — and preferred Champagne to any other beverage. He hardly ever drank anything else. Then there’s Napoleon, who introduced Champagne to the world while trying to conquer it.
The Kladstrups tell of vintners who managed to overcome adversity and keep the bubbles coming. Just as grapes thrive on adversity, the Champenois produced some of their finest vintages during wartime. If you’re looking for a book for a Champagne and history lover, look no further. (An index, however, would have made the book more reader friendly.)
REFERENCE
The World of Wine: The Story of Wine, Hugh Johnson;
The World Atlas of Wine, Hugh Johnson and Jancis Robinson
Mitchell Beazley, $85The World of Wine is a boxed set of works by Britain’s most gifted and esteemed wine writers, Hugh Johnson and Jancis Robinson, whom the Times has called “the Bordeaux and Burgundy of wine writers.” Johnson’s been writing on the subject for almost four decades. Each year he updates Hugh Johnson’s Pocket Wine Book, a very useful, though small guide, which capsulizes more than 6,000 wines, growers and regions, vintage information and recommendations; a complimentary CD of the 2006 edition is included with The Story of Wine.
This second edition of the latter has been updated, condensed and is nicely illustrated. Johnson starts with “The Power to Banish Care: Man’s First Experience of Alcohol,” moves on to, for example, “Making and Tasting Medieval Wine,” and winds up with “The New World Challenges: The Dramatic Renaissance of California and Australia” and “The Old World Responds.” Beautifully written, this book provides as much pleasure as Pol Roger’s famed Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill Champagne.
Johnson couldn’t face writing the fifth edition of The World Atlas of Wine on his own, so he enlisted Jancis Robinson as his partner. He chose well. The Observer has called her “our cleverest, most thoughtful wine writer.”
The World Atlas of Wine has been considered the authoritative atlas for more than three decades. This edition has 148 revised maps and 30 new ones. All are excellent. The book’s introduction includes sections on the history and evolution of wine, terroir, grapes, winemaking — the usual suspects, written up unusually well: “Europe drank wine on a scale it is difficult to conceive of; our ancestors must have been in a perpetual fuddle.”
While most of the book is devoted to Western Europe — only 15 pages of 274 are assigned to California — countries like Japan, Bulgaria and Slovakia are represented. The essence of each region —its geography, varietals, regulations and traditions — is conveyed in a concise summary. This book belongs in every serious wine library.
PARTICULAR REGIONS
Oz Clarke’s Australian Wine Companion
Harcourt, $19.95The Aussies have cleverly figured out what wine styles Americans love and are now the No. 1 importer of wine to the U.S. Like the wines Australia produces, Clarke’s book offers an approachable and tasty trek through the world of Australian wines. In a 175-page book, award-winning author Clarke covers much territory: Australia’s classic grapes and those with great potential, more than 160 of the top producers (and Clarke’s favorites), vintages, a breakdown of “Who Owns What” (five large companies produce 75% of Australian wine) and tasting notes. His style is lively. “If democratic elections were held for the position of King of Riesling in Australia,” Clarke writes, “Jeffrey Grosset would be a shoo-in.” The book features helpful maps, and is illustrated with labels and lovely photographs. It’s a must-have for anyone interested in Australian wines and a fine addition to the library of any avid wine fan.
Wines of Burgundy
Serena Sutcliffe
Mitchell Beazley, $14.95Master of Wine Serena Sutcliffe heads Sotheby’s wine department. Her Wines of Burgundy has been updated for the seventh time, this go-round by Neil Beckett, editor of The World of Fine Wine magazine. The book is well organized and packs a lot of information into a small package. It’s divided into three sections: The Region and Its Wines, Wines and Villages, and A-Z of Burgundy Producers. The first includes a comprehensive overview of the region: history, the grapes, the appellations, geography, vintage reports, the classification system, etc. The last includes more than 600 producers, including renowned established properties and worthwhile lesser known ones. All in all, it is an excellent introduction to the wines of this prestigious region.
The Wines of Greece
Konstantinos Lazarakis
Mitchell Beazley, $40Lazarakis, the first Greek Master of Wine, has also mastered the art of the wine guide. As expected, the book covers history, vineyards, laws, regions and recommended producers. Lazarakis provides a comprehensive look at the unfamiliar Greek varietals that have recently been catching on in the U.S. He offers a helpful description of the different indigenous grapes. Lazarakis explains the difference between Assyrtico, arguably the best Greek white grape variety, and Moschofilero: “It seems that Moschofilero will never achieve the levels of complexity or depth of a great Assyrtico,” he writes, “although excellent producers ... are trying hard to prove this assertion wrong.” And then there are the red Agiorgitiko, which, Lazarakis writes, “will probably be the most important red Greek variety in terms of international recognition,” and Xinomavro, which some compare to Pinot Noir, others to Nebbiolo. Those who want to go beyond Retsina and Roditis will want to check out The Wines of Greece.
New York City author and certified sommelier Sharon Kapnick has written about food and wine for many magazines, including Time, Portfolio, Food & Wine and Hemispheres, and many newspapers, thanks to the New York Times Syndicate. She won an APEX award for excellence for the story “What’s for Breakfast,” published by Hemispheres. She contributed to the Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America.
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