Wine

by Hugh Johnson

'Johnson's erudition and love of language are apparent on every page... reading Johnson is a delight... Johnson's take on the wine world is intelligent, questioning and thoughtful.' (Tim Atkin OFF LICENCE NEWS )'a masterpiece, richly composed' (David Sexton EVENING STANDARD )'Johnson is still the only modern wine writer who makes memorable statements and writes quotable lines.' (DECANTER )'This is partly a book of personal anecdotes about wine, and partly a travelogue of the wine world... This will sit neatly on the bookshelf beside Johnson's other major wine books, and certainly helps to put them in context.' (WINE INTERNATIONAL )'With more than 40 years' experience, there is not much Hugh Johnson doesn't know about wine. The author charts the journey of wine from grape to cellar in this very readable personal history.' (SAINSBURY'S MAGAZINE )'the urbane Johnson's wry elegant prose speaks of a more gracious, timeless world in which discrimination and imagination are free to roam. I suspect that Johnson's informative tome will be required reading in 50 years time for a broad brush perspective on wine in the late 20th century.' (Anthony Rose THE INDEPENDENT )'Scholarly and discursive.' (Victoria Moore THE GUARDIAN )'These memoirs have been well worth the wait. What sets him apart is his literary style. He can write - really write. He enthuses but doesn't gush, is opinionated but not dogmatic, and is a master of the succinct put-down... a celebration of wine and a life spent considering it.' (Joanna Simon SUNDAY TIMES )

Genres: Cookbooks, Wine, Reference

254 pages

First published January 1, 1974

About the author

Hugh Johnson, younger son of a London lawyer, began his life-long passion for wine in all its variety as a member of the Wine & Food Society at Cambridge University, where he gained an Honours Degree in English literature. When he left King's College in 1961 he became a feature writer for Vogue and House & Garden, writing, among other articles, travel and wine columns for both magazines and their sister-papers in New York.

In 1963, as a result of his close friendship with the octogenarian André Simon, the founder of The International Wine & Food Society, he became General Secretary of the Society and succeeded the legendary gastronome as editor of its magazine Wine & Food. At the same time he became wine correspondent of The Sunday Times and started work on his first book, Wine, whose publication in 1966 established him as one of the foremost English gastronomic writers. There are now over 800,000 copies in print in seven languages and the book is still regularly reprinted. After a year as Travel Editor of The Sunday Times he became editor of Queen Magazine, in two years doubling the circulation of the fashionable glossy. It was 1969 when James Mitchell of the newly-founded publishing house Mitchell Beazley invited him to write The World Atlas of Wine. The research involved took Hugh Johnson all over the world; the result was a best-seller that might justly claim to have put wine on the map. Its publication was described by the Director of the Institut National des Appellations d'Origine in his Foreword as "un événement majeur de la littérature vinicole".

Reviews

[Ck · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good place to start learning about wine. Clearly written, combining back stories with more technical descriptions.