Some of you may have been disturbed by the sound of teeth grinding in ![]()
north London in the second week of December when it became apparent that there was zero stock of the 3rd edition of the book that Julia and I spent more than two years putting together and which came out in September last year.
north London in the second week of December when it became apparent that there was zero stock of the 3rd edition of the book that Julia and I spent more than two years putting together and which came out in September last year. Of course it’s great when enough people want to buy a book such as the 3rd edn of The Oxford Companion to Wine that it sells out, but it is galling for authors and editors when publishers don’t print enough for a proven seller to be available in time for Christmas.
The good news, however, is that at long last the reprint is in stock and available for booksellers. Those ordering from Amazon are no longer told to wait ‘four to six weeks’ for delivery. To make things a little confusing, the book has different jackets on each side of the Atlantic: yellow with white wine glasses in the UK and a bunch of Pinot Noir grapes in the US. But what’s inside is identical, I can assure you.
To order the 3rd edn online:
Click here from Amazon.com
Click here from Amazon.co.uk
Many of you will be bored to tears hearing about this book but those few of you who are not might like to check out some early reactions from readers, and to see a few of the lovely reviews that have since been published.
“the one essential book for any wine lover” Eric Asimov, New York Times
[#2 choice of all non fiction gift books] ![]()
“has something most other wine books lack: a bit of attitude….you’ll sprain your wrists lifting it but this is a stunning book” Warren Blass, Washington Post, Book World
“the third edition is as cheeky and irreverent as ever, and even more informative. It’s valuable reference book and great fun just to pick up and read” Washington Post
“easy to use, to-the-point and authoritative” Dorothy J Gaiter and John Brecher, Wall Street Journal
“unquestionably the world’s most comprehensive wine resource” Town & Country
“demystifies the grape in witty, straightforward language” Playboy
“ a magisterial 813-page encyclopedia of just about everything a wine love could ever want to know” Eric Asimov, New York Times
“without question the most useful wine book ever published” Mike Steinberger, Slate
“its level of detail and wite elevate it beyond a mere reference” Jon Bonné, San Francisco Chronicle
“wit leavens much of the load” Mike Dunne, Sacramento Bee
“an overflowing goblet that would be central to any wine lovers’ library” Bryan Miller, The Inquirer
“the bible” Wine Enthusiast
“a comprehensive A to Z of everything in the world of wine…more user-friendly [than the last edition]…This is a must-have book for wine geeks” Wine Spectator
“as addictive as the Internet” Tara Q Thomas, Wine & Spirits
“lists 167 in-country contributors…If the CIA had a network like this, it would have avoided that gaffe about weapons of mass destruction” Fred Tasker, Miami Herald
"those readers interested enough in the subject to buy the first edition are pretty much compelled to buy all subsequent ones, for the knowledge encompassed in them changes not only rapidly, but also radically" Paul Levy, TLS
"those readers interested enough in the subject to buy the first edition are pretty much compelled to buy all subsequent ones, for the knowledge encompassed in them changes not only rapidly, but also radically" Paul Levy, TLS
“beefed up with impressive scholarship by its assistant editor Julia Harding” The Times
“No wine-lover’s bookshelf should be without the superlative new edition of The Oxford Companion to Wine” Jonathan Ray, Daily Telegraph
“Do you need me to regurgitate praise for this edition? Let me not waste words, it remains uttely essential, its comprehensiveness from ‘abboccato’ to ‘zymase’ is as mentall disorientating as measuring the magnitude o fthe universe and it is nigh on impossible to imagine wine literature without it” Neal Martin www.wine-journal.com
“the essential reference book” FT magazine
“a magnificent achievement” What’s On in London
“It is simply the most complete wine encyclopedia you can ever wish to buy” Clive Platman, Birmingham Post