World Atlas of Wine

• #4 in Best Wine Books

20 Reviews

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At 400 pages, British wine experts Huge Johnson and Jancis Robinson have created their most exhaustive atlas yet, and a tremendous resource. The book is gorgeous - with a generous amount of color illustrations, photos, and maps, including 2 page spreads. All told there are 48 extra pages over the previous edition.

The 6th edition contains 200 maps, all revised and updates, including 20 new maps. The introduction contains essays on wine in the ancient world, vine types, grape varieties, weather, terroir, the wine growers calendar, how wine is made, etc. etc. Robinson has said this new edition took two years of concentrated effort. It was worth it!

Then the authors dive deep into wine regions organized by country. Each region or country covered has a colored map, an essay about the characteristics of the reason, vital statistics, and a few wine labels. France has the most with 55 regions featured, indeed, a quarter of the volume (100 pages) is on France. Italy features 18 regions. Spain 9. Portugal 6. Germany 12. United States 17. Australia 12. New Zealand 4. Other countries covered include: England and Wales, Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Western Balkans, Bulgaria, Romania, Former Soviet Republics, Greece, Eastern Mediterranean, North Africa, South Africa, China, Japan, and the rest of Asia. I find the information scant on Chile and Argentina, which is odd given their increased market exposure and rising excellence of wines.

The authors have expanded New World coverage, in keeping with expanded exposure and quality of the wine produced in these regions, for Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, South America, and South Africa. These are additions, with nothing taken away from the previous fabulous coverage of Old & New World wine regions.

Since the first edition in 1971, the World Atlas of Wine has sold more than 4 million copies and I'm happy to add this new 6th edition to my library, especially at such a reasonable price. It's always a pleasure to look up some background information on tonight's glass of wine.

Basically this is an indespensible text for anyone in the wine industry of wishing to expand their technical wine prowess. I am a Master of Wine student and this is one of the three cornerstones of my library including the Oxford Companion to Wine and the Sotheby's Wine Encylclopedia. The maps are a bit much for beginners but that is what the colorful Sotheby's maps are for. These maps highlight elevation and exposure as well as vineyard land and forested land, all are important aspects for advanced wine studies.

This edition expands upon the notable regions, including a massive increase in the US and Australian sections, Hugh Johnson giving a nod to the increasing popularity and success of these countries.

This should be one of the first three books purchased for any wine enthusiast.

This makes a great gift book for a wine-lover who enjoys reading as much as drinking fine wines. Lots of small print going into details of the region the wine comes from, including maps. Dry reading. High quality coffee-table book.

I absolutely love this book. However, the reason why I gave it only 4 stars is because this is the second time I've ordered it and it came without the CD. Otherwise, I find it fulfills all of my expectations. I often browse through it with my husband while opening a new bottle at the dinner table. This allows us to peak through sections of the book as desired. Most books this size make great coffee table props, which people don't even read. This one is meant to be read. Great text, great pictures, well organized!

This is an excellent work that should be part of every library. If you like this style of writing, I'd also recommend Natalie MacLean's Red, White, and Drunk All Over: A Wine-Soaked Journey from Grape to Glass. It's not a reference work, but is laugh-out-loud funny and makes an excellent companion to this book. Both Hugh Johnson and Jancis Robinson have recommended Natalie's book highly. She also publishes a free newsletter at www.nataliemaclean.com.

This is the book for those who wantthe in depth look at the world of wine. The maps and vineyard details along with the analysis of the various wines is extremely helpful.

I am a Master of Wine Student. I have own 5 editions of this atlas during my wine career. I thought I wouldn't need to upgrade to this new edition because, well, honestly, I didn't think this book could tell me any more than I already knew. Wow, I was wrong. The details of New World regions alone is reason to buy this book. The maps are always the BEST, but now they are more informative and more realistic of the wine world at large. You can also see the maps on the [...] site, but the book is still a great reference.

Great update to a reference work well-known among wine educators and consumers. The geographical context of the knowledge base about wine and winemaking is exceptionally well done and informative.

This is my third copy of World Atlas. Each one has been such a substantial improvement over the previous one that its purchase was inevitable. Great maps, witty, relevant text and the usual breath-taking photographs of wine country. (did you ever notice that no body grows wine in ugly places?)

This is a must-have book for your home library. What surprised me is the cost, so low for a hardcover, high quality book like this.

THIS BOOK IS SO INFORMATIVE AND HELPFUL FOR NOT ONLY THE NOVICE, BUT THE PERSON WHO WOULD LIKE TO BRUSH UP ON THERE KNOWLEDGE OF WINES. HIGHLY RECOMEDED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

simply outstanding, in every way....very complete and detailed and the best book on wine i have seen, ever

I discovered this book while visiting Burgundy last year.
It was part of the limited offerings available near the Hospice.
Considering the size of the book, I decided to wait until I returned to the USA to purchase it.
The book offers a detailed review of everything from how wine is produced to the details of each terroir around the world. I believe this book is a must have for wine enthusiasts.

I looked the book through in my friend's house long ago but could not read: this was Dutch edition. Now, I wanted to have this excellent book at hand in my home and in a readable form. To my great satisfaction, the book became even more rich in content and maps. So, I am happy to have now a possibility to locate not only any of my favorite wines but also wines new for me with which I got acquainted just recently.

Whether you want to become an expert, or your are just interested in wines this is a great book. Very well written, easy to read and remains useful as reference material

Gave this as a gift to a developing oenophile. The book is beautiful, easy to read and understand, and filled with useful information. It makes a terrific gift.

The editorial notes for this listing refer to the 5th edition, but the listing itself is actually for the new, 6th edition. I own the 5th and have gone through the 6th in some detail. It is worth buying the newer edition if you have an earlier edition. The authors have not only added a couple dozen entirely new maps, but the format itself is nicer, in my opinion, and of course, the contents have been comprehensively updated. New editions of this book are not as frequent as the annual pocket guides (co-author Hugh Johnson's is excellent - Hugh Johnson's Pocket Wine Book 2009: 32nd Edition (Hugh Johnson's Pocket Wine Book). The 5th was published in 2001, and I would not expect the 7th edition for several years.

This is a favorite wine book, and, unlike ratings-focused books, not quite so readily replaceable by software and not particularly suited for mobile devices. A wonderful use of this book is to read about a region then go buy a few representative wines, which will help enormously in fixing the reference information in your mind as well as increasing the enjoyment of the wine itself. It's also a nice companion to wine articles in Wine Spectator and other magazines to supplement the tasting and travelogue information typical in such articles.

It is a shame that there isn't a "Look Inside" for this book. If you are unfamiliar with it, the World Atlas' maps are quite wonderful. Not just plain-Jane maps, but viticultural maps, with chapters and pages of accompanying commentary to help you understand the unique characteristics of each region as it pertains to wine. It is a delightful book to leave lying around, as you can read a page or two casually - each region stands on its own, i.e., this is not a book you have to slog through cover to cover.

Really better than 6th edition. I hardly encourage anyone interested in wines to buy it

This seems to be truly a complete Atlas on wine and locations for
finding anything you might desire in wines.

This book was given as a Christmas gift to a wine lover and he was very impressed with the format of the book.