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Wine Books: Andrew Jefford

Andrew Jefford is thoughtful and insightful writer and broadcaster.

The New France (2002)
Andrew Jefford
Available from Amazon
1-8400-0410-X

The full title of this book - The New France: A Complete Guide to Contemporary French Wine - goes some way towards explaining why Andrew Jefford thought we needed what at first might seem like yet another guide to French wine. This book is much more than a simple guide - Jefford really gets to grips with the renaissance of French winemaking. Yes, he does spend some time discussing each region in the traditional fashion - a geographically orientated tour of the appellations - but in doing so he pays particular attention to the terroir, a recurring theme in this book. Terroir also crops up in the 'Flak' sections - where Jefford gives discourse on the hurdles that challenge each of the French regions. Select producers, each one in some way relevant to the changing face of French wine, are profiled in detail. Following each chapter are shorter profiles of many more producers. These contain valuable words - this is the first book I have read in years where I actually learnt something new about some of my favoured winemakers. Says Jefford of the book "..[my theme is] the championing of individuals rather than multi-nationals, of families rather than corporate shareholders, of agriculture rather than industry, of authenticity of origin rather than marketing stratagems..." His theme is a good one. Coupled with beautiful black and white portraiture (the colour images of the other wine regions are occasionally lacking, but are at least very original) this makes for a fascinating, quality read.

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