Description
Product Description
In this handsome and engaging book, Clive Coates, one of the world's leading authorities on wine, gives us the most up-to-date, comprehensive, and detailed study of the wines of France ever written. Coates's vast knowledge of his subject together with his natural gift as a storyteller make
An Encyclopedia of the Wines and Domaines of France as informative as it is entertaining. He discusses every appellation and explains its character, distinguishes the best growers, and uses a star system to identify the finest estates. With more than forty specially commissioned maps that show the main appellations and wine villages of France in detail and a format that invites browsing as well as in-depth study, this book will be essential reading for anyone, professional or amateur, interested in wine.
Coates gives ample reasons for his belief that France produces the finest wines in the world, in a volume and variety no other country can match. He shows how, despite savage competition from other countries, France holds its own. It not only creates great wines, he says, it also produces affordable wines. The outcome of thirty-five years of traveling around the French vineyards, this book displays a continuing love and respect for French wines and the
vignerons of this remarkable country. In discussing each region and its wines in detail, Coates leaves no stone unturned. His encyclopedic knowledge is evident, bringing the places and the people where these great wines are created to life.
Review
"Coates gives all the information relevant to the wines, and adds a generous dash of opinion and story telling, too, making this as good a read as it is a reference."--"Wine & Spirits magazine
About the Author
Clive Coates, M.W., was awarded the Chevalier de l'Ordre du Mérite by the French government, the Ruffino/Cyril Ray Memorial Prize for his work on Italian wine, and the title of Wine Writer of the Year for 1998/1999 in the Champagne Lanson awards. He has published
The Vine, his independent fine wine magazine, since 1985. His books include
Claret (1982),
Wines of France (1990),
Grands Vins: The Finest Chateaux of Bordeaux and their Wines (California, 1995), and
Côte D'Or: A Celebration of the Great Wines of Burgundy (California, 1997), which won the Champagne Veuve Clicquot Prize, the André Simon Award, and the James Beard Award.