Sothebys Wine Encyclopedia 4th Edition Revised [Hardcover]

Warning: despite the title, this book is NOT an encyclopedia. It is not a general compendium of wine related knowledge. Do not expect to find articles on topics like "shiraz," "brettanomyces," or "tannins." It is in no way comparable to The Oxford Companion to Wine.

This book is essentially a wine atlas; it is directly comparable to Johnson & Robinson World Atlas of Wine. The first 50 pages of both books are devoted to general articles on topics such as "Terroir," but the bulk of the book (550 pages) is arranged geographically by region. The regional headings correspond almost exactly to those in the Atlas. (As with the Atlas, the focus is on the old world. France alone gets over 200 pages of the 550, while the Americas (North and South), Australia and New Zealand combined get just under 160 pages. These are roughly the same proportions as the Atlas.) One major difference between Stevenson's book (which I refuse to call an "encyclopedia") and the Atlas is that Stevenson's book has few maps, and the maps that it does have are very general. No doubt this is why the book is not called an "atlas" despite its geographic organization.

As an example, consider the treatment of Barbaresco (which I happened to be drinking when I first opened this book). There are 39 pages on Italy, which begins with a 4 page overview of the country as a whole, focusing on the DOG system. The general content seems to be very well done (I am not enough of expert to say whether it is accurate). It is then divided into subregions. Northwest Italy gets 9 pages, of which 2 are general, with a paragraph each of the main regions, such as Piedmont. The bulk of the section are capsule descriptions of all of the various appellations. Because of the number, these descriptions are individually very short. The longest description, that of Barolo, is one-third of a page. Barbaresco gets three sentences. The capsule descriptions themselves seem to be very well done, with a considerable amount of information packed into a few sentences (though again I am not enough of an expert to say whether the information is accurate). The descriptions are followed by a list of preferred producers which, in the case of Barbaresco, is almost as long as the description itself. Essentially every entry has such a list of producers. While most are proportionately shorter than in the case of Barbaresco, they nonetheless form a substantial part of the total text. With that said, the Atlas uses pictures of wine labels for much the same purpose; these are more attractive, but they take up more space for the amount of information content.

Compare this with the Johnson & Robinson Atlas. Northwest Italy gets 8 pages, with 2 pages of that discusses the minor regions, followed by 2 pages for Piemonte generally, 2 pages for Barbaresco and 2 pages for Barolo. About half of the coverage consists of maps. This is a major difference between the Stevenson work and the Wine Atlas; as the name suggests the Wine Atlas has excellent detailed maps, while the Stevenson book has fewer and less detailed maps. Another difference is the major regions get more coverage in the Wine Atlas; Barbaresco gets a full page of text in the Atlas, as opposed to three sentences in Stevenson's book. You might think that the minor regions would get correspondingly less coverage in the Atlas, but this is only partially true. The difference is that Stevenson's book treats each DOC or distinctive vini da tavola as with a separate section, while the Atlas treats them as part of a sub-region. So, the region above the town of Novara has six different DOCs - Gattinara, Lessona, Bramatera, Boca, Colline Novaresi, Ghemme and Sizzano - each of which gets a separate brief description from Stevenson, while they are treated together in a couple of paragraphs by the Wine Atlas. The Atlas approach is more efficient as it generalizes about the region, with a phrase or two about most of the sub-regions. But there is some extra information in Stevenson's work; we learn, for example, that Colline Novaresi requires at least 40% Uva Rara, while there is no mention of this in the Atlas, whose authors (according to Robinson's preface) made a conscious decision to omit discussion of regions which they felt would not be of no practical interest to most wine drinkers.

So, the Wine Atlas has far better maps, and better treatment of the major regions, but doesn't provide quite as much detail on the minor regions as does Stevenson. What about total information content? Stevenson's book has 550 pages devoted to regional description, while the Atlas has significantly less - around 325 (as noted each also has about 50 pages of general text). Since the Atlas also has far more space devoted to maps, and substantially more photos as well, one might suppose that there is just more text in Stevenson's book. But on the other hand, Stevenson's book has a lot of blank space because of the layout, with the distinct heading for each region.

Finally, an important difference is that the Atlas is much easier to read. It is possible and indeed enjoyable to read through the Atlas' page on the minor regions of Northwest Italy and gain some appreciation of these regions and their relationship to one another and the major regions. Much of the same information is found in the Stevenson book, but it is much more difficult to piece together. The information about the area near Novara is found in two contiguous paragraphs in the Atlas, while it is found in seven separate paragraphs spread over six pages in the Stevenson book. Furthermore, because of the lack of a map, it would not be apparent to the non-expert that these are in fact closely related regions (unless you are looking at the Wine Atlas at the same time). So, the information is there in the Stevenson book, but you won't get a picture of region in the same way that you would from the Atlas.

In summary, Stevenson's content is good; as compared to the Atlas he provides some extra information on minor regions and even when he covers the same region he provides a different perspective from the Atlas. Nonetheless, I strongly prefer the Wine Atlas, partly because of the maps, but primarily because of the superior readability. When I'm lingering over a glass of wine in the evening I often pick the Wine Atlas to read about the region the wine came from, or even about a random region that I might want to sample. I cannot imagine doing the same with Stevenson's book. I might turn to Stevenson's book as a reference, particularly if I wanted grape variety information about a minor region, but it is not a book that lends itself to idle curiosity. On the whole, Stevenson's book might be a useful secondary reference for wine enthusiasts, but the Wine Atlas is a clear first choice.

If only one wine reference encyclopedia is to be purchased, The Southeby's Wine Encyclopedia: The Classic Reference To The Wines Of The World should surely be a strong contender: it's now in its 4th edition, has been fully updated, and is the only single volume that maps and provides in-depth details about every wine-growing region from traditional to new - including those of emerging areas. Each region receives an analysis of appellations, taste and quality, winning producers, and offerings. Add rating systems, small color photos of labels and vineyard descriptions and you have a real winner.

What can I say about the latest edition except bigger and better. I love the breakdown of the appellations such as the difficult French and Italian AOCs and DOCs (and DOCGs). The layout is more accessible than the Oxford though lacks the breadth and depth of the latter text. Being in the wine business for many years I must recommend this as one of the cornerstones of any wine library and the 3rd book to buy for your wine knowledge after the Oxford Companion to Wine (1st) and the World Atlas of Wine (2nd)

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