Reviews
Those readers interested enough in the subject to buy the first edition are pretty much compelled to buy all subsequent ones, for the knowledge encompassed in them changes not only rapidly, but also radically., "Without question the most useful wine book ever published." --Mike Steinberger, Slate.com"Serious wine geeks know that 'the bible' for the past decade or so has been Jancis Robinson's The Oxford Companion To Wine. The third edition...is impeccably researched and full of well-known facts as well as interesting trivia."--Wine Enthusiast."This is a must-have book for wine geeks...highly recommended for anyone with more than a passing interest in wine."--Wine Spectator, "Top 100" issue."It's hard to come up with a wine question that you won't find answered here... My advice is simple. Buy it. Now. You'll be glad you did."--Wineloverspage.com."An invaluable resource for serious wine drinkers who never quench their thirst for learning about varietals, appellations, wine history, and vineyards."--Business Week."It's as addictive as the Internet."--Tara Q. Thomas, Wine & Spirits."The third edition of The Oxford Companion to Wine, edited by Jancis Robinson, is the one essential book for any wine-lover... the book is a necessity for those in the wine business, and it offers highly pleasurable browsing for anybody who is remotely curious about why wine is so compelling."--Eric Asimov, The New York Times"It's a valuable reference book and great fun just to pick up and read."--Ben Giliberti, The Washington Post"Unquestionably the world's most comprehensive wine resource... Best of all, this isn't a dry encyclopedia... employs a witty insider's tone."--Town & CountryNamed one of "20 Essential Books to Build Your Culinary Library" by the James Beard FoundationA Financial Times 2006 "Pick of the Year"., 'It is hard to believe that Jancis Robinson could improve upon a work whose first edition was so universally lauded, but indeed she has...The new edition is a huge compendium that covers practically everything you'd ever want to know about viticulture and winemaking...The Oxford Companion toWine is still the preeminent basic resource for wine lovers.'Wine Enthusiast Magazine, 'This A-Z guide covers all aspects of wine, from vine density to bottling...Robert Parker, publisher of The Wine Advocate, calls this "the most encylopedic" book available.'Brill's Content, 'the most impressive wine book ever published ... all wine enthusiasts would love to have a copy.'The Sunday Tribune (Dublin), 'the most impressive wine book ever published ... all wine enthusiastswould love to have a copy.'The Sunday Tribune (Dublin), 'Review from previous edition a required reference for anyone who is serious about wine'The New York Times'The greatest wine book ever published'The Washington Post'Jancis Robinson's brilliant and exhaustive tome on everything you ever wanted to know about the universe of wine'from Sideways, the novel on which the award-winning screenplay was based'It is hard to believe that Jancis Robinson could improve upon a work whose first edition was so universally lauded, but indeed she has...The new edition is a huge compendium that covers practically everything you'd ever want to know about viticulture and winemaking...The Oxford Companion to Wine is still the preeminent basic resource for wine lovers.'Wine Enthusiast Magazine'This A-Z guide covers all aspects of wine, from vine density to bottling...Robert Parker, publisher of The Wine Advocate, calls this "the most encylopedic" book available.'Brill's Content'I can think of few better companions on a hazy Christmas afternoon'Giles Kime, Sunday Telegraph'I would like to be given Jancis Robinson's Oxford Companion to Wine...it's one of those books you can keep going back to'Sunday Express Magazine'The wine world's most scholarly A to Z'The Sunday Times, Joanna Simon, 5.12.99'the most impressive wine book ever published ... all wine enthusiasts would love to have a copy.'The Sunday Tribune (Dublin)'a rich, enthusiastic celebration ... of the ancient people-centred arts of viticulture.'Valentine Cunningham, The Observer'Most ambitious, most respected writing project ever...this is a massive overhaul. There are about 500 new entries, while more than half of the previous 3000 have been rewritten to varying degrees by Robinson and her team of contributors ... with the same diligent approach she adopted to the first edition, she either wrote or oversaw every word.'Mary Dowey, The Irish Times (Dublin), 23.10.99'Always authoritative, she has revised about half of the 5000 entries to keep pace with the rapidly evolving wine world.'Diana Gregory, The Independent, 9.10.99'The words "magisterial", "magnificent", and "indispensable", used more than once in a lifetime, begin to lose their potency, but both books deserve all these epithets and more.'The Guardian, 3.12.99 (The other book was The Oxford Companion to Food)'Deliciously definitive'The Scotsman, 4.12.99'My advice is to buy the second edition ... a brilliant book ... by one of the great wine writers of our time'The Observer, 12.12.99'an exhaustive and richly informed reference'Newsday'The Oxford Companion to Wine, edited by Jancis Robinson, is not just an extraordinarily well informed compendium of oenological data, it is a status symbol among wine 'cognoscenti', one of a handful of "must have" books for those who take their interest in wine that step further ... an oracular source 'par excellence' ... Information is presented in a typically academic, yet still warm and 'human' style.'Harold Heckle, The TabletFrom reviews of the first edition:'Beautifully illustrated, with alphabetical contributions from over 80 worldwide experts, here is everything you ever wanted to know about the subject, and more.'Christie Hickman. Midweek. Dec '94'Edited by a lively and distinguished wine writer, this is a welcome addition to the Oxford Companion series.'Good Book Guide, January 1995'far and away the best book on drink published last year.'Times, 'Jancis Robinson's brilliant and exhaustive tome on everything you ever wanted to know about the universe of wine'from Sideways, the novel on which the award-winning screenplay was based, 'Review from previous edition a required reference for anyone who is serious about wine'The New York Times, 'This A-Z guide covers all aspects of wine, from vine density tobottling...Robert Parker, publisher of The Wine Advocate, calls this "the mostencylopedic" book available.'Brill's Content, "Without question the most useful wine book ever published." --Mike Steinberger, Slate.com "Serious wine geeks know that 'the bible' for the past decade or so has been Jancis Robinson's The Oxford Companion To Wine. The third edition...is impeccably researched and full of well-known facts as well as interesting trivia."--Wine Enthusiast. "This is a must-have book for wine geeks...highly recommended for anyone with more than a passing interest in wine."--Wine Spectator, "Top 100" issue. "It's hard to come up with a wine question that you won't find answered here... My advice is simple. Buy it. Now. You'll be glad you did."--Wineloverspage.com. "An invaluable resource for serious wine drinkers who never quench their thirst for learning about varietals, appellations, wine history, and vineyards."--Business Week. "It's as addictive as the Internet."--Tara Q. Thomas, Wine & Spirits. "The third edition of The Oxford Companion to Wine, edited by Jancis Robinson, is the one essential book for any wine-lover... the book is a necessity for those in the wine business, and it offers highly pleasurable browsing for anybody who is remotely curious about why wine is so compelling."--Eric Asimov, The New York Times "It's a valuable reference book and great fun just to pick up and read."--Ben Giliberti, The Washington Post "Unquestionably the world's most comprehensive wine resource... Best of all, this isn't a dry encyclopedia... employs a witty insider's tone."--Town & Country A Financial Times 2006 "Pick of the Year,", 'a rich, enthusiastic celebration ... of the ancient people-centred artsof viticulture.'Valentine Cunningham, The Observer, 'I would like to be given Jancis Robinson's Oxford Companion to Wine...it's one of those books you can keep going back to'Sunday Express Magazine, 'Jancis Robinson's brilliant and exhaustive tome on everything you everwanted to know about the universe of wine'from Sideways, the novel on which the award-winning screenplay was based, 'I would like to be given Jancis Robinson's Oxford Companion toWine...it's one of those books you can keep going back to'Sunday Express Magazine, 'It is hard to believe that Jancis Robinson could improve upon a workwhose first edition was so universally lauded, but indeed she has...The newedition is a huge compendium that covers practically everything you'd ever wantto know about viticulture and winemaking...The Oxford Companion to Wine is stillthe preeminent basic resource for wine lovers.'Wine Enthusiast Magazine, "Without question the most useful wine book ever published." --Mike Steinberger, Slate.com "Serious wine geeks know that 'the bible' for the past decade or so has been Jancis Robinson'sThe Oxford Companion To Wine. The third edition...is impeccably researched and full of well-known facts as well as interesting trivia."--Wine Enthusiast. "This is a must-have book for wine geeks...highly recommended for anyone with more than a passing interest in wine."--Wine Spectator, "Top 100" issue. "It's hard to come up with a wine question that you won't find answered here... My advice is simple. Buy it. Now. You'll be glad you did."--Wineloverspage.com. "An invaluable resource for serious wine drinkers who never quench their thirst for learning about varietals, appellations, wine history, and vineyards."--Business Week. "It's as addictive as the Internet."--Tara Q. Thomas,Wine & Spirits. "The third edition ofThe Oxford Companion to Wine, edited by Jancis Robinson, is the one essential book for any wine-lover... the book is a necessity for those in the wine business, and it offers highly pleasurable browsing for anybody who is remotely curious about why wine is so compelling."--Eric Asimov,The New York Times "It's a valuable reference book and great fun just to pick up and read."--Ben Giliberti,The Washington Post "Unquestionably the world's most comprehensive wine resource... Best of all, this isn't a dry encyclopedia... employs a witty insider's tone."--Town & Country Named one of "20 Essential Books to Build Your Culinary Library" by the James Beard Foundation AFinancial Times2006 "Pick of the Year"., "Robinson is not merely one of the world's foremost wine experts, but a passionate wine lover. This is the third edition of The Oxford Companion that Ms. Robinson has edited since 1994, and its extraordinary wealth of new information indicates how rapidly the world of wine has evolved since the second edition was published in 1999. Aside from new entries, 40 percent of the entries had been extensively revised."--Eric Asimov, The New York Times. "Without question the most useful wine book ever published. The point of purchasing the OCW is to have a single, compendious source of wine information at your disposal, and the OCW serves this function brilliantly. There is simply no book that comes close to matching the breadth and depth of the OCW. Every wine-related topic imaginable is covered in erudite, meticulous detail. And it is not just the comprehensiveness that sets the OCW apart; no other wine book draws on such a deep reservoir of expertise. Contributors include dozens of first-rate scholars and writers with specialized wine knowledge."--Mike Steinberger, Slate.com. "Serious wine geeks know that 'the bible' for the past decade or so has been Jancis Robinson's The Oxford Companion To Wine. The third edition of this essential reference debuts this fall, complete with almost 400 new entries and extensive updates to existing items. Aided by an international cast of contributors, Robinson elucidates virtually every wine term known to humankind. [It is] impeccably researched and full of well-known facts as well as interesting trivia."--Wine Enthusiast. "Impress your friends by having everything they ever wanted to know about wine at hand in The Oxford Companion to Wine."--Wine Spectator. "The one wine book that I most strongly recommend as the serious wine enthusiast's primary reference. If you don't already own it and you are serious about wine, buy this book. You won't be sorry, whether you use it primarily to look up information about what's in your glass, as a study guide for sommelier or wine-educator certification, or simply to browse and dream about traveling down the world's wine roads. With the holiday season looming in the distance, it's hard to think of a more appropriate wine gift to put on Santa's list. With some 3,900 wine-related topics listed alphabetically across more than 800 large-format, lavishly-illustrated pages, it's hard to come up with a wine question that you won't find answered here... If you're passionate about wine, it would be easy to make the case--and give your old copy to a friend or local library. If you didn't have Oxford yet, though, my advice is simple. Buy it. Now. You'll be glad you did."--Wineloverspage.com. "An invaluable resource for sserious wine drinkers who never quench their thirst for learning about varietals, appellations, wine history, and vineyards."--Business Week. "When the Oxford Companion to Wine came out in 1994, it impressed everyone with its breadth. Just six years later, the book is in its third edition, with 900 more entries. Most existing entries have been revised, too. As always, the Oxford Companion is not a book to sit down and read, but to leave open someplace where you can flip through it whenever the urge strikes. It's as addictive as the Internet."--Tara Q. Thomas, Wine & Spirits. "The third edition of The Oxford Companion to Wine, edited by Jancis Robinson, is the one essential book for any wine-lover... the book is a necessity for those in the wine business, and it offers highly pleasurable browsing for anybody who is remotely curious about why wine is so compelling."--Eric Asimov, The New York Times "It's a valuable reference book and great fun just to pick up and read."--Ben Giliberti, The Washington Post "No wine library would be complete without it."--Paul Gregutt, The Seattle Times A Financial Times 2006 "Pick of the Year"., "Without question the most useful wine book ever published." --Mike Steinberger, Slate.com "Serious wine geeks know that 'the bible' for the past decade or so has been Jancis Robinson's The Oxford Companion To Wine. The third edition...is impeccably researched and full of well-known facts as well as interesting trivia."--Wine Enthusiast. "This is a must-have book for wine geeks...highly recommended for anyone with more than a passing interest in wine."--Wine Spectator, "Top 100" issue. "It's hard to come up with a wine question that you won't find answered here... My advice is simple. Buy it. Now. You'll be glad you did."--Wineloverspage.com. "An invaluable resource for serious wine drinkers who never quench their thirst for learning about varietals, appellations, wine history, and vineyards."--Business Week. "It's as addictive as the Internet."--Tara Q. Thomas, Wine & Spirits. "The third edition of The Oxford Companion to Wine, edited by Jancis Robinson, is the one essential book for any wine-lover... the book is a necessity for those in the wine business, and it offers highly pleasurable browsing for anybody who is remotely curious about why wine is so compelling."--Eric Asimov, The New York Times "It's a valuable reference book and great fun just to pick up and read."--Ben Giliberti, The Washington Post "Unquestionably the world's most comprehensive wine resource... Best of all, this isn't a dry encyclopedia... employs a witty insider's tone."--Town & Country Named one of "20 Essential Books to Build Your Culinary Library" by the James Beard Foundation A Financial Times 2006 "Pick of the Year"., 'a rich, enthusiastic celebration ... of the ancient people-centred arts of viticulture.'Valentine Cunningham, The Observer, 'Review from previous edition a required reference for anyone who isserious about wine'The New York Times
