Clarke & Spurrier's Fine Wine Guide

Description

An updated edition of the guide tothe best wines in the world by two of the world's most knowledgeable and entertaining wine experts. This handsome, updated edition of Clarke & Spurrier's Fine Wine Guide is the ultimate ready-reference to the world's best wine-for buying, for estimating the value of your collection, for restaurant selection, for investing. Organized by wine region with an alphabetical list of the top wine names and leading producers in every major wine-producing country, the guide is fully cross-referenced for ease of use. In this completely redesigned elegant and enduring format, these two expert authors survey the world of wine and bring you its best-not necessarily the famous Bordeaux growths, but the best wine from around the globe.

In Clarke & Spurrier's Fine Wine Guide, Oz Clarke--the one-man brand of stylishly iconoclastic wine reportage--and Steven Spurrier--author, merchant, teacher, and patron saint of Napa Valley (ever since a Stag's Leap Cabernet and a Chateau Montelena Chard bested Bordeaux and Burgundy at his infamous 1976 Paris tasting)--present a valuable and handsome reference work brimming with maps and enlightened opinion. From the Cote d'Or and Canada to New South Wales and Walla Walla, serious enophiles will find much to inform their fine-wine choices, whether investing ("Buy double what you want, sell half for double what you paid, and drink for free") or cellaring ("To have kept a bottle too long is far, far worse than to have drunk it before its time"). Vintage recommendations for this "new edition" top out at 1998, and Oz's subjective list of "Great American Wines" will no doubt push a few noses out of joint--assuming readers can pull theirs out of the informed pages of Clarke & Spurrier's Fine Wine Guide. --Tony Mason

Reviews

Rating: 5 / 5
Date: 1999-06-11
Summary: "An invaluable guide to the world of wine"

Mystified by Morgon ? Not sure whether you should keep that bottle of Chateauneuf du Pape or quaff it now ? Clarke and Spurrier have the answers in this easy to follow guide which covers the main wine producing countries. Its certainly a must if you're a channel hopping wine shopper. Wines are carefully described and each entry includes a list of the best years, the best producers and when the wine is ready to drink. Best of all, here's a book that's free of the old tea chests and tcp school of wine tasting, preferring instead to use straightforward, easy to understand descriptions of taste and colour. Taking it with us to France recently led to the discovery of several wines we hadn't tried before because we weren't sure what they were. Highly recommended.