[.ca] New Sotheby's Wine Encyclopedia, the (ISBN 0751337404)

From Amazon.com:
If you want to learn about wines of the world and advance your comprehension of wine production, grape varieties, appellations, and individual wineries, understand the factors (such as location, soil, climate, and methods of viticulture) that affect the taste and nose, and visit your wine shop with a list of quality wines to explore, Tom Stevenson is the man to read. Author of 12 books (including Champagne and The Millennium Champagne & Sparkling Wine Guide), three-time winner of the Wine Writer of the Year award, and columnist for Wine magazine, Stevenson has the gift of taking vast quantities of knowledge and experience and translating them into lucid, sparkling prose, easily graspable by the novice, yet still interesting and instructive to the connoisseur. Arranged geographically, with nearly 100 maps, profiles on top producers, and valuable Author's Choice charts for each region, the Wine Encyclopedia covers the wines of Europe (from Great Britain and Switzerland to Southeast Europe, Greece, and the Levant), as well as wines from North and South Africa, North and South America, Australia, New Zealand, and Asia. In addition, there's a guide to wine and food (pairing fois gras with a Champagne or Sauterne, for example, and claret or Cabernet Sauvignon with beef), a guide to wine flavors (making sense of descriptors such as fig, gooseberry, violet, and hay), a list of good vintages, and a glossary of tasting and technical terms, distinguishing "cheesy" and "chewy" from "creamy" and "corked." Enhanced by beautiful pictures of vineyards, wine labels, and Stevenson himself demonstrating the art of wine tasting, from examining and nosing the wine to spitting it out, this a visually beautiful as well as an informative volume. As sumptuous as an elegant Tuscan Barolo, as rewarding as a Sarget de Gruaud-Larose from Bordeaux, as pleasing as a Ferreira port, the Sotheby Wine Encyclopedia is a remarkable tome of oenological erudition. --Stephanie Gold

Best single-volume general wine reference I know of:
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.

Best reference in wine:
This book is the ultimate, in wine appellation references. It covers law and grape varietals very well. The only place it lacks is any reference to the grapes grown for spirits. If you have only two books with which to study for the sommelier exam, this should be one. (the other is: Sales and Service for the Wine Profesional. by Brian Julyan)

A wonderful overview of wine regions & producers:
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.

Truly an encyclopedia!:
A wonderful gift for the wine lover in your family, this book starts with the "history" of wine and is divided into geographical regions around the world. There are many illustrations and photographs detailing the winemaking process, grapes, various regions and wine labels, and much more. I bought the book to put on my coffee table (it's that heavy and thick!), but have spent much time reading through it and can say that one will learn a great deal about wine. The writing may be a bit dry, but overall, this is an excellent work on wine.

A great reference and coffee table book:
This book is of general interest to the wine enthusiast. It is well presented and interesting to read. At the same time it functions as a reference guide. An excellent buy.