On 18 May 2007 13:27:04 -0700, joe beppe > wrote:

>> UC, I am wanting to chose between 3 books, Sotheby's, the new Hugh
>> Johnson coming out in September, or Oxford. Which one do YOU like the
>> best and/or would recommend for a novice.

I assume you mean Hugh Johnson's Pocket Book? If you live in the UK,
get it anyway as it is not expensive. If you live outside the UK I am
not really sure how relevant it would be. Some of the content
obviously is, but I doubt all the wines he mentions wodl be readily
available.

Or did you mean the Johnson/Roinson Wine Atlas? I am not sure it is
really that helpful for beginners, but it is a great book. And if you
want to know more precisely where your wine comes from, I'd get it.

The Oxford Companion is my personal favorite. Not something for
reading from cover to cover, but great for getting answers to specific
quesions. You will also find some of the longer articles very
readable. If you would rate yourself as a serious beginner, get it.
But I can imagine some beginners might be a bit overwhelmed.

I haven't read the Southerby's encyclodpedia, but I know it has a good
reputation. It is is logically ordered, rather than the Oxford
Companion alphabetical ordering. So in that sense it is better for
reading larger chunks. Also has more pictures and maps.

If I had to chose ONE, I think I'd go for the Southerby's book as it
covers all bases. But they are all good, and the Companion is my all
time favorite wine book.

Or maybe go for something more basic like Michel Schuster's Essential
Winetasting. That is, I think, more likely to answer tasting
questions concisely, and it also has a more general section on wines.

--
Steve Slatcher
http://pobox.com/~steve.slatcher