Academie du Vin Library

BEHIND THE GLASS The Chemical and Sensorial Terroir of Wine Tasting Author: GUS ZHU MW IN BEHIND THE GLASS readers will discover the science involved in wine tasting and learn why wine tastes the way it does. Wine is chemically extremely complex, while sensory appreciation can be subjective, meaning that our perception of wine is many layered. Behind the Glass is aimed at the non-scientist curious wine lover or wine professional and uses flavour chemistry and sensory science to help readers understand what is going on when they taste a glass of wine.

FIONA MORRISON MW An up-close and personal account of 10 wine families and their trials, tribulations and successes. Not just any wine families: the likes of Frescobaldi, Gaja, Torres, Perrin, Niepoort, Knoll and Torres, known and revered across the world. Fiona Morrison was welcomed into the homes of each (with her photographer) and was able to capture the ‘behind the scenes’ excitement of wine making in the kind of vivid detail impossible to achieve in a magazine article.

WINE CONFIDENT There’s No Wrong Way To Enjoy Wine by KELLI A WHITE Foreword by Karen Macneil THE SAME ELEMENTS that make wine thrilling – its breadth of regions, varieties and vintages, its ever- changing nature, rituals and the many languages of its labels – can also make it intimidating. And this breaks Kelli White’s heart.

The South America Wine Guide by Amanda Barnes is the result of a decade of research and interviews conducted by the author while travelling around and living on the continent. In collaboration with over 60 regional specialists, The South America Wine Guide comprehensively details over 70 wine regions and maps out in stunning detail 40 wine regions — many of which have never before been mapped or documented in the English language.

Michael Broadbent’s seminal guide to wine tasting is an award-winning classic, as he brought an appreciation of wine’s true qualities to a much wider audience. Few experts are as skilled as Broadbent in the subject, and he guides readers through the first principles of tasting, providing detailed explanations of the influences of grape variety, soil, and climate.

After years hidden away in the craggy mountains, wines from Savoie and Bugey are now offered worldwide. This book tells the story of the men and women who make these characterful wines, how they have tamed the steep hillsides to plant the vines and mastered their unusual grape varieties.

Ethos Priorat is an experience, a journey into the life within the wines of the Priorat. Despite its isolation it has quickly become one of the most important wine regions in the world. The reasons for this are explained in three simple chapters: Nature, Spirit and Wine. Nature provides an in-depth look at the Priorat terroir as well as growth and sustainability. Spirit is the human part of the story recollecting history through the formation of the villages along with the people’s relationship with the vines through the seasons.

From teeth-gnashing outrage to tonsil-tickling euphoria: burgundy can baffle with its unwillingness to charm in the glass, then dazzle and astound us when we catch it at its best. It is elusive yet addictive. Those who know burgundy frequently never love another wine – not least the authors and experts in this book, whose insights here embrace the two grapes (Pinot Noir and Chardonnay), the two slopes (the Côte de Nuits and Côte de Beaune) and the hillsides that surround this region.

Andrew Jefford is, in the words of winemaker Randall Grahm, ‘the most thoughtful person we have writing about wine’. Discover why in this selection from Jefford’s work, celebrating the limitless beauty of wine difference. This book anatomizes the pleasure that awaits every drinker while simultaneously furnishing a philosophy of wine – one founded on astonishment, and drawing on personal discovery rather than hierarchy and mastery. There is no other wine writing like this.

With Georgian wine, it is one of, if not the most ancient wines made in the world. For 8,000 years this small country has continually produced wine within their borders making for a fascinating crossroads of viticulture. A storied past, including being one of the republics of the USSR, this band of green valleys and mighty rivers on the Black Sea is finally getting recognition for its unique and wonderful wines.

JANE ANSON (AUTHOR), FIONA MORRISON M.W (AUTHOR), HUGH JOHNSON (AUTHOR) When things turn out right for Bordeaux, as they frequently do, its wines are sublime. They inspire many thousands of tributes, from Samuel Pepys’ succinct reviews to the most rhapsodic of Michael Broadbent’s tasting notes – in short, over 300 years of wine writing. On Bordeaux is a collection of the best bits, from our best-loved wine writers, critics, and commentators, set around 10 of the themes that make Bordeaux tick.

In On Champagne the thoughts, opinions and conclusions of the world’s finest champagne writers gather to reveal this wine’s action-packed trajectory from the myth of its accidental discovery – not in France, we find, but in the cider cellars of England – to the development of a high-tech champagne fit for space travel.

From Bordeaux to the Stars: The Reawakening of a Wine Legend by Jean-Michel Cazes is a captivating journey through the revival of Bordeaux's esteemed vineyards. This insightful book delves into Cazes' visionary leadership and innovative approaches that breathed new life into the legendary wine region. Perfect for wine enthusiasts and history buffs alike, it offers a fascinating glimpse into the world of fine wine and the enduring legacy of Bordeaux.

Marchesi Antinori are a Florentine wine family and at the same time one of the most innovative and important wine dynasties of the world. Their wines fascinate enthusiasts and connoisseurs on all continents. Wine icons like Tignanello and Solaia have their origin in the singular way in which the house of Antinori sees its role in wine culture.

Chateau Musar’s story is one of war, hardship, and utter determination in the face of chaos and destruction. Serge Hochar, the heroic Lebanese winemaker who stood by his wines through the 15 years of civil war (1975–1990) dodging shells and road-blocks to get his precious grapes to safety, knew that his wines were among the brightest stars in the world wine firmament. Today we look at the uniquely complex (and often miraculous) wines he created and begin to understand how and why Serge worked in the way he did. Only now, in a new era of ‘Natural Wines’ do we fully appreciate what he was trying to achieve…

A Danish aristocrat turned roving winemaker who on escaping his studies at the Sorbonne one summer found himself on Burgundy’s Côte de Beaune, suddenly besotted. Peter’s first foray into wine took him to the Cape (via a quick turn parachuting into the war-zone in Vietnam), where he learned vineyard ways and wine science. Next came a dazzling decade in Bordeaux, where his pioneering exploits began to catch the world’s attention.

Oz Clarke On Wine is a fast-paced, informative and witty romp around the world of wine. Crammed with Oz’s encyclopaedic knowledge and personal tastes, it explores the grape varieties key to the world’s major wine styles and the vineyards and regions where a vast trove of wine treasure lies waiting for discovery

In this unique approach to understanding wine, Hugh Johnson, the world’s best-loved wine author, weaves the story of his own epic wine journey with an embracing view of everything he has discovered along the way. Almost without realising it, the reader is drawn into a fascinating world; with each page turned, knowledge is gained and wine wisdom absorbed. Hugh takes us from the teetering ledges of the Mosel and majestic châteaux of the Médoc to the sylvan slopes of Windsor Great Park with a spring in his step and a tasting glass at the ready.

The story of 12 friends who gathered to share and celebrate the extraordinary wines of Bordeaux. Like-minded in their love of wine, they differed wildly (often alarmingly!) in their personal wealth, life and circumstances – their opinions, always voiced, had the power to ignite anger and divide friendships just as easily as they bound them together.

‘The Constantia Valley is far more than the cradle of wine culture in South Africa, just as Klein Constantia is not merely the present embodiment of a long-forgotten estate, or Vin de Constance the modern incarnation of a wine of legend.’ So writes Michael Fridjhon in his foreword to this beautiful book which tells the dramatic and inspiring story of Klein Constantia through its people, vineyards and wines – most notably Vin de Constance, truly a modern icon in the world of fine wine.