Roalind Cooper: The Wine Year, Merrell £24.95 (US$39.95), 224 pages, hbk, col pics

Roz’s book is about the seasons as she explains in her introduction: ‘Wine is a product of the seasons. From the earliest signs of growth in the spring, through the crucial flowering period of early summer, to the final fruition of harvest in the autumn, the vine’s fate is tied to the annual cycle.’

The book is naturally dived up into 12 chapters taking a month at a time beginning with January. Within each chapter there are four sections: knowledge, entertaining, travel and an interview.

January’s chapter, for instance, starts with ‘growing great grapes’ then moves to entertaining with a sparkle, next visiting the vineyards of Champagne and concluding with an interview with Stéphane Tsassis, the CEO of Champagne Laurent Perrier.

(This is a well-designed book and Roz has taken a refreshingly different approach. Although not nominally an introduction to wine, this would certainly be an interestingly different book for someone looking to learn more about wine.)   

**

James Lawther MW: Finest Wines of Bordeaux, Fine Wine Editions in association with Aurum and University of California Press , £20, 320 pages, photos by Jon Wyand. pbk

This is the third title in the Fine Wine Editions series. It follows the same pattern as the first two (Michael Edwards on Champagne and Nicolas Belfrage on Tuscany) by concentrating on profiling the region’s leading châteaux after an introductory section.

The introductory section covers the history, culture and market; climate, soil and grape varieties; viticulture and winemaking; classification and regulation and Paris 1855 to Parker. James explains briefly and succinctly Bordeaux unique system négociant and courtier system.

The châteaux profiles are from the Médoc, Pomerol and Saint-Emilion, the Graves plus Sauternes and Barsac.

Foreword by Hugh Johnson 

(James lives in the region and his knowledge and understanding of Bordeaux shows in this authoritative book. Fine photos, as usual, from Jon Wyand.)

A travel guide to wines & vines, from Napa to Nova Scotia

Consulting editors: Dan Berger and Tony Aspler, £25

This is a new wine travel guide published in the UK by Anova Books. Dan Berger and Tony Aspler, two very experienced writers on North American wines, were the consulting editors. There were ten other writers who contributed including Patrick Fegan and Linda Murphy.

The book covers the vineyards of Canada and the United States giving 76 tours from Vancouver Island to Blue Ridge & Shenandoah. The authors concentrate on recommending wineries to visit.

Michael Edwards shortlisted for his book on Champagne

The shortlisted drinks books are:
Asian Palate - Jeannie Cho Lee MW published by Asset Publishing and Research
Collio by Carla Capalbo published by Pallas Athene
The Finest Wines of Champagne by Michael Edwards published by Aurum Press
What Price Bordeaux? by Benjamin Lewin MW published by Wine Appreciation Guild/Vendange

The shortlisted food books are:
Adventures with Chocolate by Paul A Young published by Kyle Cathie
Catching Fire by Richard Wrangham published by Profile Books
Forgotten Skills of Cooking by Darina Allen published by Kyle Cathie
The Italian Cookery Course by Katie Caldesi published by Kyle Cathie
The Song of Sapa by Luke Nguyen published by Murdoch Books
The Vegetarian Option by Simon Hopkinson published by Quadrille Publishing

The winners will be announced in Spring 2010 in London.

Jonana Simon was the assessor for the wine books this year. Only one of the shortlisted four wine books was published in the UK – Collio by Carla Capalbo by Pallas Athene. Hardly surprising as UK publishers did not publish any groundbreaking new books in 2009.

Another review copy, this time Randall Grahm's Been Doon So Long (a Randall Grahm Vinthology), which arrived last week. A hardback published by University of California Press £24.95/ $34.95 running to 318 pages. I have just started reading this – have enjoyed the introduction and will report in more detail soon. Confident that this will be an interesting and provocative read. Look beyond the puns and zaniness and like the King's jester or fool of old Randall is an acute critic of the wine scene.

This is another forceful reminder of the dearth of significant and exciting wine titles being published by UK companies at the moment. There was a time when UK publishers led the Anglophone world with innovative wine books. Sadly no longer as most now prefer to restrict to a handful of well established names and largely new editions of well regarded classics.

If you want something new you have to look to the US and often to University of California Press. In addition to Mr Grahm's new opus, recent titles have included Paul Strang's completely revised work on South-West France - the wines and winemakers, Nicolas Belfrage's Finest Wines of Tuscany and Central Italy and Michael Edwards' The Finest Wines of Champagne.

UK wise there is one ray of light – a new book on Burgundy by J'espère Maurice (trans Jasper Morris) is due to be published by Berry Bros & Rudd next autumn. Should be well worth the wait.

Subtitled 'seriously good wine at remarkably fair prices' this is undoubtedly a book for our recessionary times with a selection of over 3000 wines from around the world costing no more than £20 retail.

Once again the benefits of L'Equipe Parker are clear with David Schildknecht looking after the Loire. I suspect that a book like this would not have been possible under the old set-up.

Each region/country has an introductory overview that precedes the selected wines. David calls the Loire – the 'bargain garden of France':

'The valley of the Loire River is the bargain garden of France for more than half of its 700 miles*, slopes within 20 miles of the river's shores teem with vines, some indigenous, most introduced down the centuries from all over the rest of France. From few if any other places on earth can one still harvest such affordable but distinctively delicious wines; the stylistic range is so vast that it would bewilder if it did not bewitch us. The Loire's wines generally offer forthright, generous personalities and food compatibility, while frequently harbouring a depth that reflects their historical and geologically layered origins. Even top crus from this region's leaders – including those of global wine-growing champions – remain remarkably modest in price. And there is an abundance of young talent, both homegrown and drawn from afar to this beautiful region with its outstanding, still affordable vine acreage.'

Although David rather underestimates the length of time you can enjoy well-made Muscadet – 'for up to 3 years', he is spot on regarding Loire Sauvignon Blanc: 'even more than Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc takes wicked revenge if overcropped or underripenned, displaying a hard edge and agressive scents of green pepper, asparagus, grassclippings, boxwood, or cat pee'.

I also go along with David's selection of good quality – good value producers. Naturally if I was to draw up a similar list, there might well be a few subtractions and additions but that is always the case with a selection like this.

The tasting notes are not vintage specific but are tailored to give 'a short summary of the style and character of the wine that you are likely to find in a reasonably good vintage for that region'. Consequentially there are no scores for the wines – is this the first Parker book that doesn't score!

Great Value Wines is published in the UK by DK – 497 pages are yours for £12.99 or probably less on Amazon. With over 3000 recommended wines this guide represents excellent value, particularly bearing in mind that Matt Skinner's The Juice 2010 offers only 100 wine recommendations and then he didn't taste them all. See The Listener (New Zealand) and Decanter here.

Very happy to recommend – Robert Parker's Great Value Wines.

Review here on Jim's Loire of Robert Parker's Wine Buyer's Guide 7th edition.

* Slight exaggeration the length of the Loire is normally given as 600 miles.

I have recently received a review copy of Bordeaux Châteaux – a history of the Grands Crus Classés since 1855 (£22.50; $34.95; 24.95€). This was first published by Flammarion as a hardback in 2004 with editions in both French and English.

This new edition is in paperback. It claims to be a revised edition but I could find no evidence of this when I looked at properties that had changed hands since 2004. May-Eliane de Lenccquesaing is till presented as the owner of Pichon-Longueville and AXA as owning Château Cantenac-Brown. Both properties were sold in 2006 to Champagne Roederer and Simon Halabi respectively. I understand that the economics of publishing wine books don't allow a full rewrite when publishing a paperback edition of a book like this but someone buying the book would expect to find such obvious details have been updated.

Much of the text, especially the profiles, is a paean of praise. A small snippet from an introductory text by Jean-Paul Kauffmann gives a flavour:

'Since 1855, the owners of the châteaux have upheld their sacred duty, devoting their lives to the service of producing great wines whose glory will outlive them. Yet the honour comes with a heavy burden of responsibility. Lower the standards for a moment, and the system will be unforgiving.'

As there have been only two changes of the 1855 Classification since it was published, this is surely a view through rose-tinted spectacles, although doubtless elegant ones.

Photos by Christian Sarramon

James Halliday's: Wine Atlas of Australia, Hardie Grant, 312 pages, hbk, maps, col pics

This is an updated edition of James’ Atlas, first published in 2006. This edition was published in 2008 and is now available in the UK.

Photo credits include James Halliday and Richard Humphreys.

James Lawther MW: The Heart of Bordeaux – the greatest wines from Graves Châteaux, stewart tabori & chang, £29.99, 224 pages, col pics
I suspect that this is the first book in English dedicated to the wines of the Graves since Pamela Vandyke Price’s Wines of the Graves was published in 1993. James profiles 16 cru classés making up the vast majority of the book. Each profile including a recipe from France’s best-known chefs, including Michel Guerard, Michel Trama and Anne-Sophie Pic.

Foreword by Hugh Johnson, introduction by Michel Bettane and photos by Alain Benoit.

Paul Strang: South-West France – the wines and winemakers, University of California Press, 374 pages
Fifteen years after Paul and Jeanne Strang’s Wine of South West France was published, Paul has written the new reference book in English for the now better appreciated wines of South-West France. He covers the region from the Upper Lot Valley, Correze and the Aveyron to Irouléguy and Jurançon by way of Bergerac, Cahors, Fronton and many others. There is even a brief section on the ‘Vignobles des Sables de l’Océan’ covering the few vignerons making wine in Les Landes.

The English version of this book is published by the University of California and should be available in the UK from 1^st December.

Paul’s new book is very highly recommended, although a small disappointment that there are no captions in either of these editions for Jason Shenaï’s many fine photos. A fine book – foolish that Grub Street pulled out from publishing it.)