- Unbound: 182 pages
- Publisher: M. Beazley (1984)
- ISBN-10: 0855335459
- ISBN-13: 978-0855335458
- Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
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Amazon.co.uk Review
For everything there is a season, and in the world of wine the calendar is defined by bud break, fruit set, harvest and the arrival of the latest edition of Hugh Johnson's Pocket Wine Book. Celebrating the sale of more than seven million copies of editions spanning a quarter-century, the 2002 edition provides an updated addition to the prestigious and prolific wine writer's popular series of pocket-sized reference books. With delineated chapters--some merely a page long--Hugh Johnson's Pocket Wine Book: 2002 follows a standard format: wine trend prognostication, a brief description of the current vintage (here the 2000 harvest), a re-examination of 1999, glossary of grape types and food-and-wine matches. The book's bulk is composed of an alphabetical listing of short entries--mostly wineries--subdivided within geographical chapters. Johnson can be stylish, even witty (a lively Vernaccia pairs well with a dish of grey mullet: not the one "on the heads of aging rock stars"), but aside from the opening few pages, there's a decidedly ghost-written feel to the proceedings. Indeed, the acknowledgments list over 40 "kind friends"--including several regionally based wine writers--for their "special knowledge", most notably of some smaller producers. But it's remarkable for someone of Hugh Johnson's stature to allow, once again in the 2002 edition, the Syrah grape to be identified as identical to Petite Sirah. Friends--"kind" or not--shouldn't let friends get away with that sort of thing. --Tony Mason
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
Now in its 26th year of publication, this book offers up-to-date news on more than 6,000 wines, growers and regions. With comprehensive vintage information and recommended wines for current drinking, this is the only annual wine guide anyone really needs.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The author's own preface to this pocket compendium sums it up perfectly. You will find in this book the vast majority of the basic information you need to choose wines in a shop, a restaurant, on holiday - even from your own cellar. It is an immensely valuable resource and as yet, I know of no other published book which can compete. It is well organised, well written, reassuringly comprehensive and excellent value.
Anyone looking for detailed profiles of particular producers or wines is barking up the wrong tree. You simply can not compare this book to, say, a Parker wine buyer's guide. Besides which, you would look and feel a bit silly wading through a huge reference book in a restaurant. But this little companion works well if mixed with intuition and some common sense.
I have bought nearly every annual edition of this book for the last 21 years. Out of my library of over 45 books on wine, this is still the one I would choose to save if faced with imminent shipwreck. The torture would be in not being able to save any bottles !
My only criticism comes from a suspicion that Hugh Johnson himself has less and less to do with the book with each new edition - hence four rather than five stars. But as one previous reviewer said, the book would make a great present for both amateur and serious wine lover alike.
9 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I have the collection and the large Atlas of wine from Hugh Johnson. I think that if anyone is respected for his ability to review wine's it's Hugh. I know several of the best educational institutions in the tourism/food and drink industry use his books as a reference guide. His Annual Guides are a great way to keep up to date with the new developments and make a great gift for any wine enthusiast at a very resonable price.
Format:Hardcover
I have bought this book almost every year since 1990, with a growing dissatisfaction. It is excellent for the interested non-professional "beginning" wine-lover. Very handy (small size), good information in general, on vintages, grapes, areas, terms, etc., etc. Specially informative on Bordeaux and other areas of France (most of the book is dedicated to this hugely interesting but still small corner of the wine world). Similar can be said for Italy, Germany and a couple of other established wine-making countries. But the tiny little sections on New World wines, the best buys for the average consumer in the era of "suicide"-pricing of French and increasingly also Italian and Spanish wines, is totally out of perspective. Travelling to these countries and using the book for advice is too close to useless in my opinion.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Convenient Guide for Unfamiliar Restaurants and Wine Shops
Few people have tasted enough wines and can remember them so that they can pick out the best buys when confronted with many unexpected choices. Read more
Published on 28 Jun 2004 by Donald Mitchell
Too brief to be any use
If you are looking for ratings of specific wines or information on specific growers (like whether they are open for tastings) you will be dissappointed by this guide. Read more
Published on 28 Nov 2001 by Peter Dickinson
Perfect and very useful.
I love wine, i love wine-books, i love Hugh Johnson. I buy his guide every year (i prefer it more than clarke's), so I have done it recently. Read more
Published on 6 Dec 2000
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