Product Description

This year's edition boasts up-to-date news on more than 6,000 wines, growers, and regions from world experts, with invaluable vintage information, peerless food and wine matching tips, as well as a personal review of the last three decades from the world's best-known wine writer. Maintaining the same authoritative tone and clarity of presentation that has come to characterise this classic, it also includes a special new full-colour feature on Italian wine. Hugh Johnson and his galaxy of expert contributors have refreshed the text more than ever to ensure that this book remains "the definitive annual guide to wine", offering the "most accessible and valuable advice available".

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #117121 in Books
• Published on: 2007-09-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 304 pages

Evening Standard
Simply the best concise wine reference and a model of how to marshal quantities of fact and evaluation into a compact volume. Every interested wine drinker needs the latest edition every year.

The New York Times
No guide is friendlier...a micro-encylopedia for novices and experts.

About the Author
Hugh Johnson is the world's pre-eminent writer on wine. First published in 1977, Hugh Johnson's Pocket Wine Book sells hundreds of thousands of copies a year. His winning formula of personal insight and critical appraisal of the world of wine, plus valuable vintage news and numerous wine recommendations has been often-imitated but never bettered. With the publication of his first book, Wine, Johnson established himself at the age of twenty-seven as the most refreshing and authoritative voice on the subject. During the past three decades he has written books that have become landmarks on the subject, including his classic The World Atlas of Wine, published in 2001 with Jancis Robinson in its fifth edition, his Wine Companion, published in 2003 in its fifth edition, and The Story of Wine.

Customer Reviews

As indispensible as ever but some editing errors creeping in this year
I have bought this book every year for 20+ years and it is a goldmine, this year it is as well researched and comprehensive as ever. This is a must buy for anyone serious about wine.

On the negative side I have noticed that some pages have not been proof read or updated which is surprising. I hope these few irritating errors will be corrected soon and there are no major errors elewhere! Personally
I found the introduction of a parallel system of personal preferences alongside the established markings unneccessary and confusing but others wil appreciate these.

Still the best wine book, but some silly typos
N. Stewart's comments are spot on. This is the best source of wine information in terms of fact per pound (pound weight or pound money), containing more useful facts than most large glossy coffee-table style wine books. Coverage is best on the old world wine regions, especially Bordeaux, giving helpful info on recommended producers, which vintages are good and which are ready to drink. I think it's worth buying a new copy every 2 or 3 years.
Unfortunately there are several very blatant typographical errors in the 2008 edition, such as 'You have to had vines' in the new essay on Italian wines at the end, and several references to a Medoc classification table allegedly on page 96 but in fact non-existent.

Happy newcomer
This is the first time I've bought the annual Hugh Johnson guide and it's a gem: clear, sensible, and down to earth. The genuine pocket size meant I was able to carry it round France for on-the-spot tips.

I do have a gripe and that is with the editing/proof reading. The typos are frequent and irritating. E.g., wines that are "recommended as first choice for drinking in 2005", the 0-20 rating system that goes up to 21.5, and cross-references to other page numbers that are often incorrect. The typos make the book look like a rushed patch-up of previous years.

HOWEVER, that's not Hugh Johnson's fault and there is a career-full of knowledge and good advice here so if you want a decent wine guide, buy it.
(P.S. It's worth stating that this is primarily a guide for buying wine, especially upper-end wine, rather than a book about wine as such).