If you are anything like me, you are probably starting to panic about your list of presents to buy over the next month. May I, ahem, draw your attention to twowonderful wine books, handsome enough to make great gifts?
The new, 7th World Atlas of Wine has already been widely acclaimed for its design and content (see reviews to date). Although the jackets are different (purple in the US and cream and gold elsewhere), what's inside the pages is identical. Find out more about where to buy this beautiful book, wherever you are in the world. Full price is £40/$55 but those pesky discounters are offering it at far less – giving it away!
Take a look at these free PDF extracts. We are very thrilled that this classic reference book is also available for the first time as an iBook. For more detail, see here.
And for the heavyweight wine lover in your life – you perhaps? – there is the much-garlanded Wine Grapes – A complete guide to 1,368 vine varieties, including their origins and flavours, which has won every major wine book prize this year, on both sides of the Atlantic. See a full list of these awards and all the reviews here (you may need to set aside a weekend to read them).
This book too is published with different jackets on either side of the Atlantic. US publishers seem to favour dark colours and so the US edition of Wine Grapes has a dark red slip case whereas it is pale linen elsewhere. But, as with the Atlas, the content is identical. Find out more about where to buy this 3kg/7lb monster wherever you are in the world. Full price is £120/$175 but it is widely available at far, far less than this.
See these free pedigree diagrams taken from the book that show some of the fascinating relationships revealed in this uniquely detailed, 1,200-page guide. Much to many readers' relief, it is now also available as an ebook. Find out more here.
So, there you have it. Holiday/Christmas gifts sorted.