After months of behind-the-scenes intricacy and development, we released an improved version of our exclusive online fourth edition of The Oxford Companion to Wine on JancisRobinson.com this week. (During the process, we experienced a few hours of reduced usability in our tasting notes and articles search engine on Tuesday – an unfortunate and completely unexpected side effect for which we apologise.)
It was all in a good cause, we hope, because this most up-to-date version of the million-word opus is one of the great distinctions of our Purple Pages and we are determined to ensure that the information contained therein is the most accurate and complete available. Julia regularly updates the entries, correcting any inaccuracies that may have crept into the print edition (an inevitability with such a colossal volume of words), as well as adding easily-made updates where necessary and feasible as the information becomes available.
We can say with absolute confidence that the version of OCW4 found here is the most accurate version that exists anywhere.
The upgrades that we have just released add several new features:
- All four appendices have now been added – a mammoth task in its own right:
- Audio pronunciation guide The (attempted) pronunciation of nearly 2,500 tricky terms can now be listened to, as voiced by Jancis herself. Look for the mini-loudspeaker Play icon next to titles – see, for example, Erzeugerabfüllung.
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- All tables and illustrations have now been incorporated throughout the entries – including, for example, the original 1855 classification and illustrations of various types of graft.
- Contributors may now be browsed in a single page (and they are no longer named twice after each entry).
- Footers in every entry allow you to navigate straight to the next entry.
- In addition, dozens if not hundreds of small bugs or typos have been fixed.
We know how indispensable the Oxford Companion is to our members – not least because we see a peak in usage every May by those preparing for exams! So we hope you appreciate how seriously we take this section of our site.
For those of you who are not yet members, full access to our exclusive online version of the latest, fourth edition of The Oxford Companion to Wine is included as part of standard membership, which costs £85 annually or £8.50 monthly. Join today by clicking here.