Wine books: Treat yourself to a nice read for the summer

Good wine books are few and far between. There are brilliant reference books and a few classics worth reading in their entirety, but it’s rare to find a wine book you want to flick through before bed, sink into an armchair or bask in on a sunny day. However, a handful of new publications are breaking the mold.

The development of English wine

Henry Jeffreys’ Grapevines in cold climates (Paperback £10.99 Allen & Unwin, June 2024) has won awards – and rightly so. The book is a gentle stroll through the history of English wine, meeting the people who have been involved in the evolution of the industry, from hybrids made by amateur winemakers to serious wines (sparkling and still) that have earned a place on the world stage. Jeffrey’s prose is as charming as he is, and offers an affable, easygoing guide to England’s vineyards and some of their more eccentric characters. It’s not perfect: the chapters read like standalone essays, meaning you’ll find some repetition; there are some frustrating typos (one of them throughout at chaptalisation); and the book would have been even better with a broader context. But these are minor flaws—it’s a book that will appeal to amateurs and experts alike, and will sweep the reader up in the excitement of the movement.

Adventure in Burgundy

While Jeffreys watches English wine as a spectator, Climbing the vines in Burgundy ($24.99/£18.99 Hamilton Books, August 2023) describes a transition from outsider to insider as the American moves his family across the Atlantic to settle in this rural corner of France and build a small winery. As a self-published title, the book has undergone neither a formal design nor systematic editing processes—as evidenced by the rather rudimentary layout, numerous typos, and occasionally overlong sections. If you can look past these issues, however, you will appreciate the peculiarities of the Burgundy wine trade, as well as the unvarnished reality of life as a winemaker. This is Gambal’s own story, unedited and therefore only one man’s personal view, but it gives insight into the practical realities of grape growing and winemaking, as well as the culture shock of village life in Burgundy (reminiscent of Simon Loftus’ Puligny-Montrachet: £12.99 Daunt, 4th edition 2019). Less pedantic readers will no doubt enjoy exploring Burgundy behind the scenes.

Alex Gambal

Good wine science

Also self-published is The new winegrowingJamie Goode’s latest release (£34 Flavour Press, October 2023). This isn’t a luxurious book – with unenviable paper and print quality – but its content offers such depth. The scientist-turned-wine writer delves into today’s viticulture in the face of ‘climate chaos’, looking at the whole ‘agricultural ecosystem of the vineyard’ and calling for true sustainability – which he says lies in regenerative agriculture. It’s almost nerdy to the extreme, with a dense style – including interviews and reams of quotes from producers around the world – that won’t appeal to all wine drinkers. The lack of an index makes navigation unnecessarily difficult, and the 400-plus unwieldy pages aren’t the best bedside table material. For those looking to get to grips with the nuances of today’s viticulture, however, it’s an invaluable resource.

France and Australia: Reasons to travel

While Goode’s work is more for scientifically interested readers, every wine lover should make room on their shelf for two sophisticated works: Jon Bonné’s The new French wine (£112 Ten Speed ​​​​Press, March 2023) and How to drink Australian food by Jane Lopes and Jonathan Ross MS (£40 Murdoch Books, September 2023). The former is a comprehensive, two-volume exploration of the complex face of French wine today. Bonné – former wine editor at The San Francisco Chronicle – worked for nine years on the book, which is divided into “The Narrative” (a look at the country by region, with additional focus on issues such as natural wine and appellation systems) and “The Producers” (which provides profiles of those he considers to be the most important winemakers in France today). It is an essential reference work, but also wonderfully readable, light yet precisely written and spiced with his dry humor. Bonné aims to capture the “meta-transformation” taking place across France and its “postmodern reality.”

Jane Lopez

Equally important is How to drink Australian food – the wine book I wish had existed when I visited Australia in 2018. It is more encyclopedic in nature, with gorgeous original maps by Martin von Wyss that provide insight into each region. American Sommeliers Ross and Lopes moved to Melbourne in 2017 and discovered how good Australian wine really is; this book is her attempt to ensure its quality is recognised internationally. The focus here is on what makes each region special, with miniature profiles of the top producers for each region – and icons that provide a quick guide to everything from the must-sees to the new guard, environmental heroes and regional heavyweights. The wealth of detail is broken up by personal recommendations for specific wines, illustrations and colourful boxes, including one on Australian slang. It will fill you with wanderlust and make you want to book a flight and roam Australia’s wine regions.

“It will fill you with wanderlust and make you want to book a flight and roam through Australia’s wine regions.”

Jon Bonné

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