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Wine Books: 2006 Guides

Three of the latest guides reviewed.

Oz Clarke’s Pocket Wine Book 2006
Oz Clarke
£10.00 reduced by 40% to £6.00 at Amazon saving £4.00
0-3167-3057-2

Oz Clarke’s Wine Buying Guide 2006
Oz Clarke
£5.00 reduced by 20% to £4.00 at Amazon saving £1.00
0-3167-3058-0

It's that time of year again; the Oz Clarke Pocket Wine Book 2006 has arrived on the shelves. Unlike Tom Stevenson's Wine Report (see below), Oz's book has a different purpose and, I suspect, a different target audience. It's essentially a regularly updated pocket dictionary, covering wines, wine regions, producers (the bulk of the book) and grapes. It's accompanied, as ever, by a brief vintage chart and a quick vintage report, documenting the ups and downs of the 2004 vintage across the world. No region is covered in depth, and as such the writing tends to scrape the surface, with all but the most important producers excluded; so whereas this makes an ideal guide for those with an uncertain knowledge, perhaps just starting down the winding road that is the appreciation of wine, those with more knowledge may prefer to look elsewhere. An example is Chinon; Couly-Dutheil is the only producer included in the guide (and is the Clos de l'Echo really only worthy of one star?). Look for any detail on the likes of Bernard Baudry, Charles Joguet or Olga Raffault and you will have a fruitless search on your hands. What is covered, however, is explained succinctly and yet clearly; as I've said before, Oz Clarke is an excellent communicator, and this attribute shines through in this regularly published guide.

Having put down my pocket guide, I can't resist browsing Oz's 2006 Wine Buying Guide, which is often packaged with the Wine Book in a clear plastic wallet, to see what Oz fancies drinking this year. I think for those that want to be guided to a surefire good buy every time, and for those who shop to a price point, this little guide is a real winner. Tim Adams features strongly, as he did last year, but there's much more to the guide than that. Choose from Oz's top twenty wine buys, or from top buys in a variety of price brackets; under £5, £5-7, £7-10, and there's even an under £4 category! Oz's advice on top fizz, top claret, buying, tasting, cellaring and more means there's plenty to keep the wine buyer in need of a little assistance fully informed. In combination, these two books, which are as always very keenly priced, would make a worthwhile buy for many wine drinkers.

Wine Report 2006
Tom Stevenson
£9.99, reduced by 30% to £6.99 at Amazon, saving £3.00
1-4053-1161-4

As I have written before on these pages, it's difficult to come up with new concepts in wine writing. With Wine Report, however, now in its third year, author and editor Tom Stevenson has done it. What sets Wine Report apart from other annual wine guides is the sheer scale of the task undertaken by Tom and, secondly, how this massive venture gives rise to a fabulously informative text.

Tom assembles a crack team of authors who each have a specialist interest. Many of the names are comfortably familiar, such as Julian Jeffs QC on Sherry, Rosemary George on French Vin de Pays and Serena Sutcliffe's vintage guide, but some are less well known. Fear not; all have a pedigree suitable for their position on the team, the newest addition being Charles Sydney for the Loire. Sydney writes very well, and as this is a region I am wholly familiar with it was straightforward for me to judge if this new member has earned his place. Clearly he has; I am pleased to see due recognition given to Jo Pithon, an under-rated producer of stunning Anjou and Coteaux du Layon, Pithon being ranked in the Loire's top ten alongside luminaries such as Claude Papin, Alphonse Mellot, Charles Joguet and Jacky Blot. Sydney's chapter continues with the usual collection of recommendations, gossip, news and tips for up-and-coming producers that make this guide so strong.

There is no book without imperfection, however, although it is hard to find much fault with Tom's annual Wine Report, the publication of which is eagerly awaited by wine drinkers across the UK (and the world). Serena's vintage chapter is succinct by necessity, but contains rather too many omissions to be really useful. Perhaps less tasting notes and more vintage information, on a wider selection of regions, would have been more appropriate? The Wine Science, Viticulture and Grape Variety chapters are as fascinating as ever; no other regular publications include this sort of information. But one section, on Wine and Health, is the weak link in the chain; an unreferenced trawl through some recently published studies, this sometimes self-conflicting chapter displays a lack of critical appraisal of research publications and a questionable understanding of medical statistics (this became clear after I tracked down some of the original papers, where I could identify them). But, I implore you, take this single mote of criticism in context; this guide remains the best buy of the year for anyone with a true appreciation of wine. I highly recommend it, and I readily put my money where my mouth is; every edition thus far sits on my shelf.

Wine books reviewed on The Winedoctor: