16 November 2023 As we head into the festive season, we wanted to remind you that if you’d like to gift anyone (including yourself) a signed copy of the brand-new, extensively updated Oxford Companion to Wine, there are two options: order from Kitchen Arts & Letters in NYC or Books for Cooks in Melbourne, who have bookplates signed by all three editors; or send us a stamped, self-addressed envelope in which we can deposit a signed bookplate. Mailing details are below. UK readers please note that requests need to arrive by 6 December, before our incredible intern Julian goes on a break.
28 September 2023 Would you like a bookplate signed by all three editors of the latest, 5th edition of The Oxford Companion to Wine? Read on. Deidre Correa took this picture of (left to right) Tara Q Thomas, Jancis Robinson and Julia Harding MW hard at work signing bookplates at 67 Pall Mall, London.
Oxford University Press have issued lead editor Julia Harding MW, assistant editor Tara Q Thomas and me, the founder editor of The Oxford Companion to Wine, with sticky-backed bookplates designed especially to be stuck in the edition that was published this month.
Last week, while Tara was in London for the launch of this 3.2-kg monster reference work, we three signed as many bookplates as we could. Tara flew back to New York with some and our talented intern Julian Leidy, now doing an MSt in medieval history at Oxford University, has the rest.
So, if you have bought a copy of the new edition, you are invited to send a stamped, self-addressed envelope – just a regular letter-sized envelope will do – to the following respective addresses (British stamps to the UK address; American stamps to the US one; the bookplate itself is small and weighs just 1.3 g) and you will be sent a bookplate signed by the three of us. First come, first served.
Julian Leidy
Corpus Christi College
Merton St
Oxford OX1 4JF
Tara Q Thomas
Recurrent Ventures
601 W 26th Street, Suite 1350
New York NY 10001
If you haven’t yet purchased the book, you can also get a copy, with a signed bookplate, from the excellent New York bookshop Kitchen Arts & Letters, which ships worldwide.
We hope as many of you as possible get your hands on a copy of this rather beautiful, million-word book with its 4,100 alphabetically presented entries by real experts. There are more than 270 substantive new entries on topics from artificial intelligence to zero-zero wines via biogenic amines, geotextiles, influencers, paper bottles, regenerative viticulture and underwater ageing.
The reviews, so far online only, have been most encouraging. According to Sommelier Edit, for instance:
‘Anyone seriously interested in wine needs to get a copy of the latest 5th edition, newly published September 2023. If you only buy one wine book, this is the one you need. And it’s also the book you need if you already have a hundred books on wine.’