The 29th edition of Australian Wine Vintages, or the 'Gold Book' as it is affectionately known, offers more than ever before to wine drinkers and collectors. This new edition has over 4000 wine reviews and focuses on the highest quality producers and wines which represent excellent value.
In Extreme Wine, wine economist and best-selling author Mike Veseth circles the globe searching for the best, worst, cheapest, most expensive, and most over-priced wines. Mike seeks out the most outrageous wine people and places and probes the biggest wine booms and busts. Along the way he applauds celebrity wines, tries to find wine at the movies, and discovers wines that are so scarce that they are almost invisible. Why go to such extremes? Because, Mike argues, the world of wine is growing and changing, and if you want to find out what’s really happening you can’t be afraid to step over the edge. Written with verve and appreciation for all things wine, Extreme Wine will surprise and delight readers.
Australian wine is under siege. A growing number of people scoff at it - the taste, what it stands for, the way it's grown and the way it's made, others simply don't want to see it on the shelves. This book travels through both sides of this argument - the forces fighting against Australian wine, and the people doing their best to save it.
Here’s the inside scoop on the wine world. Globalization has pushed back the borders of the wine world, creating a complex, interconnected market where Old World and New World wines and producers compete head to head. Writing with wit and verve, Mike Veseth (a.k.a. the Wine Economist) tells the compelling story of the war between the market forces that are redrawing the world wine map and the terroirists who resist them. This is the battle for the future of wine—and for its soul. The fight isn't just over bottles bought and sold, however; power and taste are also at stake. Who will call the shots in the wine market of the future? Who will set the price? Whose palate will prevail? Veseth masterfully brings all of these questions together in the only book on the wine business written for all lovers of wine. Wine Wars II begins by exploring wine globalization, where readers follow “Missionaries, Migrants, and Market Reforms” to faraway New Zealand and learn how to unlock the secrets of their local retail “Wine Wall” by mastering the “DaVino Code.” Globalization brings a world of wine to our doorsteps. Commodification helps us make sense of the resulting embarrassment of riches, but at a cost. Readers must decide if they are Martians or Wagnerians, consider why “They Always Buy the Ten Cent Wine,” and then probe the puzzle of “Outlaws, Prisoners, and the Great Escape.” Who stands in the way of the global wine market's assault on wine's very soul? The“Revenge of the Terroirists!” Resistance is not futile, because 'We Are All Terroirists Now,” but that doesn't mean the future of wine is secure. A final section explores “Wine's Triple Crisis,” environmental crisis plus economic crisis, plus identity crisis. Taken together these crises pose the most serious threat to wine as we know and love it. Each section of Wine Wars II ends with a suggested wine tasting that invites readers to experience the book's ideas and arguments with all their senses by sampling a few carefully chosen wines. Can the soul of wine survive – and thrive – in this unfriendly environment? You'll have to read Wine Wars II to find out!
James Halliday’s Australian Wine Companion is the No. 1 bestselling guide on wineries and wine in Australia. Keenly anticipated by winemakers, faithful collectors and wine lovers alike, the 2013 edition has been completely revised and updated to bring you up-to-the-minute information. Halliday shares his extensive knowledge of wine via detailed tasting notes, each of which includes vintagespecific ratings and advice on optimal drinking, as well as alcohol content, price and a value rating. He provides important details on wineries – including opening times, contact details, vineyard sizes and web addresses – in addition to biographies on each, and information about the winemakers. An indispensable reference for all enthusiasts of Australian wine, the Australian Wine Companion is a must-have for anyone planning to visit a wine-growing region or to replenish their cellar or wine rack. It is the most authoritative and entertaining guide to Australian wine.
"Meticulously researched history…look[s] at how wine and Western civilization grew up together." —Dave McIntyre, Washington Post Because science and technology have opened new avenues for vintners, our taste in wine has grown ever more diverse. Wine is now the subject of careful chemistry and global demand. Paul Lukacs recounts the journey of wine through history—how wine acquired its social cachet, how vintners discovered the twin importance of place and grape, and how a basic need evolved into a realm of choice.
Sought after by European aristocrats and a favorite of Napoleon Bonaparte, the sweet wines of Constantia in the Cape Colony were considered to be among the worldÕs best during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. During the first democratic elections in 1994, South Africa began to re-emerge onto the international wine scene. Tim James, an expert on South African wines, takes the reader on an information-packed tour of the region, showing us how and why the unique combination of terroir and climate, together with dramatic improvements in winemaking techniques, result in wines that are once again winning accolades. James describes important grape varieties and wine stylesÑfrom delicate sparkling, to rich fortified, and everything in betweenÑincluding the varietal blends that produce some of the finest Cape wines. Anchoring his narrative in a rich historical context, James discusses all the major wine regions, from Cederberg to Walker Bay, complete with profiles of more than 150 of the countryÕs finest producers.
The seventh edition of Penfolds The Rewards of Patience is one of the most ambitious wine books ever published. Two years in the making, it is a collaboration of the worldOCOs very best minds in wine, who travelled to Beijing, Berlin, New York and the historic Magill Estate winery to showcase rare and magical vintages of AustraliaOCOs most prized wines.Since 1844, Penfolds has enjoyed a special place in AustraliaOCOs wine industry, and within these pages you will find extensive vintage-by-vintage tasting notes accompanied by historic timelines that bring to life the character, enjoyment and inexhaustible freshness of the Penfolds wine experience. Meticulous in execution, beautifully photographed, yet relaxed and informative, The Rewards of Patience is the ultimate wine loverOCOs bible.Published every five years, this authoritative and entertaining review of AustraliaOCOs greatest wine producer is an institution among wine lovers, wine collectors and observers of wine.Like a great Penfolds red, The Rewards of Patience will keep you captivated for hours."
Italo Calvino's beloved, intricately crafted novel about an Emperor's travels—a brilliant journey across far-off places and distant memory. “Cities, like dreams, are made of desires and fears, even if the thread of their discourse is secret, their rules are absurd, their perspectives deceitful, and everything conceals something else.” In a garden sit the aged Kublai Khan and the young Marco Polo—Mongol emperor and Venetian traveler. Kublai Khan has sensed the end of his empire coming soon. Marco Polo diverts his host with stories of the cities he has seen in his travels around the empire: cities and memory, cities and desire, cities and designs, cities and the dead, cities and the sky, trading cities, hidden cities. As Marco Polo unspools his tales, the emperor detects these fantastic places are more than they appear.