Books

See also DVDs and my suggestions for general reading, written 2005, here.

 

Hugh Johnson and Jancis Robinson, 2007
 

See videoclip, photograph and reaction from purple pagers.

'This is the best collaboration of two Brits since Lennon and McCartney', Washington Post

This new 6th edition is fully revised and updated, with 200 maps, 20 of them brand new. Since its first edition in 1971, the Atlas has sold over 4 million copies in 14 languages.

In Sep 2008 this new edition of the Atlas will be published in: Italy, Taiwan, Japan, France, Germany, Norway, Brazil, Holland and Denmark.

Also in the pipeline for late 2008 or early 2009: Russia, Korea, Hungary, Spain.

Order now from Amazon US or from Amazon UK 

 

Edited by Jancis Robinson, 2006
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

'the one essential book for any wine lover' Eric Asimov, New York Times

'No wine-lover’s bookshelf should be without the superlative new edition of The Oxford Companion to Wine' Jonathan Ray, Daily Telegraph

'beefed up with impressive scholarship by its assistant editor Julia Harding', The Times

A major new edition of the ultimate reference book on wine, described by Michael Franz in the Washington Post as 'the greatest wine book ever published', which was jolly nice of him. Nearly 4,000 entries, 300 new ones, and more than 160 international contributors, including 73 new to this edition.

It has been published in German by Hallwag as Der Oxford Weinlexikon, in French by Hachette as L'Encyclopédie du Vin and, amazingly, in Danish as Oxford Vin Leksikon by a wonderful woman who has had to virtually create a Danish wine vocabulary.

Exclusively available online to purple pagers.

Click here to order the new 3rd edition of The Oxford Companion to Wine.

Jancis Robinson, 2000
 

This should really be called JR's Wine Course (but that title was already taken) because it's a way of learning about wine by a series of tasting exercises (not all of them involving wine). This is a heavily revised version of a book I did in 1983 called Masterglass, which Mrs John Avery claims she used to teach her friends about wine. Revising it (substituting Jacob's Creek for Hirondelle) taught me a lot about how the world of wine has changed.

'clearly designed and commendably well written'  Tim Atkin, The Observer, UK

'a thorough, no-nonsense approach to unlocking some of the mysteries of appreciating and enjoying wine'  Frank Prial, New York Times

'for those who want to learn how to taste wine, the Robinson approach is hard to beat!'  Gerald D Boyd, San Francisco Chronicle

'Robinson's reputation as a brilliant wine writer and expert, by anyone's definition, doesn't get in the way of her presenting a thoroughly helpful book, approachable, well-balanced and often fun'  Bonnie Walker, San Antonio Express-News

Published in the US by Simon & Schuster and by Octopus in the UK.

Order now from Amazon UK or from Amazon US

 

Jancis Robinson, revised edition 2006
 

This is a fully revised, updated and expanded edition of one of my most useful books, the one I've come to call Oxford Lite - a full colour, beautifully designed, bells-and-whistles introduction to wine designed for those who don't necessarily know anything at all about it - but all underpinned by Master of Wine knowledge, ie very solid facts under all the, I hope, encouraging prose. In this new edition are 32 more pages - an increase of 10 per cent, most of the new space going to New World wine regions, plus a bit more on Italy. The new, fully revised edition is also already available in German (Hallwag), Dutch (Spectrum), Danish (Gyldendal), Polish (WIG Press), Hungarian (Alexandra) and Spanish (Art Blume).

I wrote the original edition to go with our 10-part BBC TV series Jancis Robinson's Wine Course when it was first shown in 1995. It was designed to be a complete introduction to wine with the authority of the Oxford Companion but much more basic and with lots of lovely pictures. It was a bestseller in the UK and also published in the US, in Germany as Weinkurs and in France as Tout Apprendre sur le Vin. (It's the ultimate compliment to a wine author to see their book translated into French.) I revised the vintages and things for the paperback edition in 1999 but this new, longer book is a full and complete update, revision and expansion.

I am, as any regular visitor to this site must know by now, a workaholic, so I have gone through the original volume with a fine toothcomb and now believe it's as fine a hardbacked introduction to the delicious subject of wine as you could hope to find.

Comments on the first edition: 'a vintage volume... the most notable volume of its kind since Kevin Zraly's Windows on the World wine course...Robinson makes you want to sign up for the course.' Peter M Gianotti, Newsday

'She has an encyclopedic grasp of her subject and doesn't put a foot wrong ... a splendid introduction to the world of wine, authoritative without self-importance, informative without pedantry, sure-footed without arrogance and, with its crisp
and often witty style, it confirms the fundamental thesis of the book that "the point of wine is to give pleasure".' Stephen Brook, Decanter

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Jancis Robinson, 1986

This was my first major reference book, written back in the mid 1980s when it was obvious that grape varieties were going to become increasingly important. It's amazing though to think that in certain (mainly French) quarters, cépage (French for grape variety) was a dirty word. Funnily enough, when Hachette got round to publishing it in French as Le Livre des Cépages, it was a big success for them - presumably bought by growers rather than drinkers. The book is very pretty and still preferred by many to the more up-to-date pocket alternative (see below).

'This is the most important book about wine since Mr Hugh Johnson's The World Atlas of Wine of 1970',  The Economist

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Jancis Robinson, 1997

I was very flattered when a very senior, wine-loving editor at Viking, New York, asked me to write this 'professional memoir'. He called the US edition Tasting Pleasure; the UK edition also, coincidentally, published by Viking/Penguin, was known by the American subtitle, Confessions of a Wine Lover. It's the story of how I got into wine, the people I've met, places I've been and, most of all, what I've eaten, drunk and spat out. Some people said it made them feel rather queasy. It made me feel very old.

'she writes about wine and the people who make it in a style both personable and reporterly; she refuses to take herself too seriously; and she is something of a gossip'  Coleman Andrews, Saveur

'worth buying just for the sections on the secret world of the Gallo dynasty and Robert Parker'  Richard Neill, Daily Telegraph.

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Edited by Bruce Cass; Consultant Editor Jancis Robinson, 2000


This is the main Oxford Companion's firstborn, a long-overdue, serious consideration of the world's fourth most important wine producer. Entries - on individual states, regions and wineries - are again listed alphabetically and easily navigable cross-references (how I have learnt to love cross-referencing!) make all the information easy to access. Bruce and a quiver of local experts have done a great job and are so candid that we started to receive letters from miffed producers several weeks before official publication.

'an important book'  Frank Prial, New York Times

'this is a solid, admirable reference book that belongs on the shelf of anyone who is serious about wine'  Harvey Steiman, Wine Spectator

'impressive, 300-page tome. Its encyclopedic format is less daunting than it might be, thanks to clear writing and the maps, color photographs and 15 signed essays'  William Rice, Chicago Herald Tribune

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Jancis Robinson, 2001


The meatiest bits of the second edition of the Oxford Companion to Wine condensed and packaged in a convenient (if thick) paperback. It was horribly difficult to scrunch the OCW into a third the length - a job I couldn't even contemplate. But fortunately Julia Harding achieved this, with great rigour and sensitivity. We had to drop most of the history, all of the brandy and some of the more detailed bits on science and fortified wines, but it is a very high quality product! And has the most important appendices too.

'What a brilliantly simple and brilliantly obvious idea!...an absolute must-have.'  Tom Cannavan, www.wine-pages.com

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Jancis Robinson's Guide to Wine Grapes

Jancis Robinson, 1996

A deceptively compact, pocket guide to the world's increasingly fascinating roster of relevant wine grape varieties. It was written a decade later than Vines, Grapes and Wines so is much more au courant.

It appeared in Danish in 1995, entitled Vin og Druer. It has also been translated into Italian as Guida ai Vitigni del Mondo by the admirable Slow Food movement (Slow Food Guide to Wine), something in Japanese by WANDS, Guia de Castas in Portuguese by Cotovia, and most spendidly in German by Hallwag with beautiful colour photographs of all the vines as Rebsorten.

'Robinson is to be congratulated for condensing so much information into such a tidy package, and for giving us, finally, a manageable book on wine grapes. We shall be using it often.'  Quarterly Review of Wines

'lively, knowledgeable prose',  Wine Spectator

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