This guide to wine production in the USA, Canada, and Mexico, highlights geographical, philosophical, and commercial variations throughout the region. It consists of a series of introductory essays, discussing in depth key topics such as prohibition, cybersales, wine auctions, microbiology, labour, and viticulture, followed by more than 500 A-Z entries, including individual wineries and winemakers, regions, grape varieties and technical term. The text is closely linked by the use of cross-references to the "Oxford Companion to Wine", to which it serves as a complementary volume.
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"impressively comprehensive" -- Independent 14/10/00
About the Author
Bruce Cass taught wine appreciation classes on the Stanford University campus from 1972 until 1985. Founder/director of the Society of Wine Educators (1976-81) and author of Wine Educators Handbook in 1978, he wrote and produced four editions (1985-8) of The Winewrights' Register, a critically acclaimed reference book devoted to California's micro-wineries. He was Editorial Consultant for James Halliday's Wine Atlas of California, which won both the Julia
Child and the James Beard awards as Best Wine Book of 1993. He is a qualified judge at US wine competitions, including the California State Fair the World Wine Championships held in Chicago. He was selected to judge the Sydney Top 100 Wine Competition in Australia in 1992 and 1994, and was the American judge for the JOFEX Wine Competition in Hong Kong (1995). He lives in San Francisco.
Child and the James Beard awards as Best Wine Book of 1993. He is a qualified judge at US wine competitions, including the California State Fair the World Wine Championships held in Chicago. He was selected to judge the Sydney Top 100 Wine Competition in Australia in 1992 and 1994, and was the American judge for the JOFEX Wine Competition in Hong Kong (1995). He lives in San Francisco.
Jancis Robinson, MW, is wine columnist for the UK's Financial Times and the US Wine Spectator. She is editor of the Oxford Companion to Wi
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First Sentence
THOUGH vines grew wild in some regions of the vast continent, the indigenous peoples of North America were not wine consumers. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
THOUGH vines grew wild in some regions of the vast continent, the indigenous peoples of North America were not wine consumers. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
0 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Hardcover
This is the best book on the subject by the world's greatest wine writer. (Jancis Robinson)
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3.7 out of 5 stars
6 reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wit and Unbelievable Wisdom
26 Dec 2000
By Bob Prewitt
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
"Waiting on Petite Sirah hoping for elegance is like marrying a stripper in the hope of witty conversation in old age."
This is the wonderful kind of wit that you find throughout this book. Bruce Cass, Jancis Robinson and the other fine wine writers who are responsible for the book's substance all appear to have a tremendous love of wine but don't need to deify it. I laughed out loud several times as I read descriptions of wines and wine characters.
The Wisdom is even more amazing. There is a wealth of factual information and interpretation. Just open up the book to any page and start to read. Within 45 seconds, you will utter, "Wow, I didn't know that."
This is the best book on wines written in a long time.
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
an inferior supplement to the Oxford Companion to Wine
1 Feb 2002
By Bob Carpenter
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
The "Oxford Companion to Wine", edited by Jancis Robinson, is the definitive modern reference on wine. Not intended to be read as a book, the entries nevertheless make compelling reading and following the cross-referenced entries can easily consume a pleasurable evening. This "supplement" doesn't live up to the original in terms of quality, comprehensiveness or value. If you were expecting a version of the companion tuned to American wines, you'll be sorely disappointed. On the other hand, if you can't get enough of the original and long for more information on California growers, this isn't a bad start. We can always hope for a revised, expanded, second edition.
For the North American supplement, Jancis Robinson served only as a "consulting editor". She apparently corrected the editor's English usage (see the preface), but she didn't write any of the entries. She did write two throwaway pieces in the beginning of the book on "How Good are North American Wines?" and "Commentators and the Wine Media". There are roughly 60 pages worth of introduction to North American Wine, most of which I did not find deep enough to be particularly informative.
Almost all of the cross-references on vinification, wine-making, cellaring, tasting, defects, grapes, etc. are in the "Oxford Companion", making it essentially impossible to use the North American guide alone.
Compared to the "Oxford Companion", the entries are relatively breezy. The font is larger, the margins are wider, and the book is much shorter. Like the "Oxford Companion", the maps are truly horrendous; you'll remember them from coloring assignments in grade school. Invest in Hugh Johnson's and Jancis Robinson's wonderful new "World Atlas of Wine" for maps. The Atlas's coverage of North American wine styles, grapes and regions isn't half bad, either.
9 of 12 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars
Doesn't deliver as a "companion"
3 April 2001
By A Customer
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
I bought this book for our public library's reference collection. Reviews indicated that this book would be an excellent source of information about wine. It falls far short of that. One example: I needed it for a definition of "syrah" (which they refer to in an article) - neither the alphabetical arrangement of the book nor the index yielded anything. This is a coffee table book and nothing more.
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3.7 out of 5 stars
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