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Winner of the James Beard Award for Best Beverage Book, Named "Best Drinks Book" by Wine & Spirits magazine, Faiveley International Wine Book of the Year, OIV Best Viticulture Book 

"This 1,280-page book lists thousands of grapes, minor and major, precisely described. Listed in its pages are grapes I never knew existed but now, somehow, cannot forget." -Wall Street Journal

An indispensable book for every wine lover, from some of the world's leading wine experts.

Where do wine grapes come from and how are grape varieties related to one another? What is the historical background of each one? Where are they grown? What sort of wines do they make?

Using cutting-edge DNA analysis and detailing almost 1,400 distinct grape varieties, as well as myriad correct (and incorrect) synonyms, this book examines grapes and wine as never before. Here is a complete, alphabetically presented profile of all grape varieties of relevance to the wine lover, charting the relationships between them and including unique and astounding family trees, their characteristics in the vineyard, and—most important—what the wines made from them taste like.

Presented in a stunning design with eight-page gatefolds that reveal the family trees, and a rich variety of full-color illustrations from Viala and Vermorel's century-old classic ampelography, the text will deepen readers' understanding of grapes and wine with every page. Combining Jancis Robinson's worldview and nose for good writing and good wines with Julia Harding's research, expertise, and attention to detail plus Dr. Vouillamoz's unique level of scholarship, Wine Grapes offers essential and original information in greater depth and breadth than has ever been available before. This is a book for wine students, wine experts, and wine lovers everywhere.

From the Publisher

ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0062206362
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Ecco; 10.7.2012 edition (November 6, 2012)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 1280 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780062206367
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0062206367
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 6 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 11.36 x 7.44 x 3.19 inches
Reviewer: MK
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Wine/Grape nerds rejoice
Review: I've now completed reading this tome from cover to cover (for the first time.) I will say that this is by far the definitive book on grapes that make wine. This is THE BIBLE of Wine Growing Grapes. Well organized and well written. This book is certainly epic - in both its massive form - and its content.The stories about each grapes history are fascinating - not just the known genealogy, DNA studies and familial relationships (which other reviewers have covered) but also in the historical writings about the grapes. I look forward to the continued studies into these histories as well.I can see this book becoming the definitive go to guide for all wine growing grapes - one that changes the common nomenclature for many grape varieties - which will be no mean feat.It really is something to know that certain winemaking grapes have been written about for five hundred years and more and that they have been making wine from them for thousands - and of course the stories about the new kids on the block - like Cab Sauv - came about (parentage) and how they've conquered the world which is really is quite something.Unlike others I don't have any problems with the printing/binding/font/paper choices or the illustrations that are fold out in nature. I quite enjoyed the structure of the book.I certainly hope that this information is disseminated into the modern forms of information soon. An App that is mobile would be fantastic.

Reviewer: brad
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: The ultimate book on grapes, even with some shortcomings
Review: I'm a licensed wine importer and winery owner. I specialize in extremely rare and local grapes. This is the *ONLY* book that has detailed information on such varietals. It contains literally everything, even if as some people complain some information might be dated or a little misleading. It is *THE* reference book to have.

Reviewer: JD
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Mindblowingly resourceful
Review: I have this book in physical & digital formats. I recommend having both. The illustrations in the hard copy are phenomenal. Being able to carry such a large volume on my phone (minus the beautiful grape portraits), is priceless. Facts, DNA, historical tracing. Fascinating read for being a compendium.

Reviewer: Bruce A. Watson
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: The book I have been waiting for
Review: I have been professionally involved in wine production for nearly 30 years. For many of those years I have been hoping that Jancis Robinson would update her old classic, "Vines Grapes and Wines". "Wine Grapes" is much more than a revision of the old book; it is a definitive volume that brings us up to date on what is known of the parentage and characteristics of essentially all of the commercially important, and many of the more obscure, wine grapes. It is beautifully produced in hard cover, well organized and well documented. Wine retailers, wholesalers, importers, producers, wine educators and grape growers will all want this volume at hand. Serious wine enthusiasts will also find it fascinating to research whatever grape variety has recently piqued their interest. Most highly recommended!

Reviewer: Bruce Noel
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Everything You've Wanted to Know About Wine-Grape Vines
Review: This encyclopedic work deserves five stars just for the amount of work that went into it. Ms. Robinson's (and collaborators')newest effort is a treasure trove of detailed information about every grape you've never heatrd of as well as all the standards. Particularly interesting to me was the collection, in one place, of the huge number of familial relationships that have recently been established by DNA analysis. Things are happening so fast in this field that the book -- useful as it is --is probably obsolete already and they will have to publish regular supplements to keep nearly up to date.

Reviewer: Ursiform
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Magnificent but imperfect
Review: For years I've loved Jancis Robinson's pocket-sized Guide to Wine Grapes, turning to it whenever I encounter a new wine grape. Alas, it is long out of print, and a bit dated in terms of the relationships between grapes.Now comes this new volume, which is anything but pocket-sized. Massive and slip-cased, it has the gravitas of an aged Premier Cru. For each of nearly 1400 varieties there is an entry that gives you its color (from among five choices), common synonyms (for some widely grown grapes there are many), other varieties it is often mistaken for, and what is known of its origins and heritage (relying on recent, extensive, DNA testing of wine grapes). Then there is a brief summary of how it grows (vigor, resistance, when it ripens, and the like) and where it grows. As warranted, there is a discussion of what it tastes like and the quality of the wine it produces. Many of these grapes are actually very marginal from a wine making viewpoint, and are of interest for historical or relationship reasons. (I do miss the little sliding bar from the earlier book that suggested at a glance the likelihood of the grape producing a decent wine.)The relationship information is fascinating. Selected grapes have a family tree associated with their entry. Looking at Cabernet Sauvignon we learn that Chenin Blanc is a sister of Sauvignon Blanc and, hence, an aunt of Cabernet Sauvignon. Freisa turns out to be a cross of Nebbiolo with an unknown grape. The foldout genealogy of Pinot Noir is remarkable. Who would have guessed that Lagrein is a granddaughter of Pinot, while Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah are both great granddaughters? On a down side, the figure is sewn so deeply into the binding that part of the tree can't be read.I decided to check on a grape of local (but not wine drinking!) interest. In the earlier book there is an entry for the Mission grape, the first wine grape brought to California; there is was associated with the Monica grape. The current volume doesn't have an entry for Mission (it has entries pointing you to a main entry for some synonyms, but not for others). Checking the index it turns out that Mission is actually Listan Prieto. (Which I'd certainly never heard of before.)There are also beautiful color plates, originally published in France over a century ago, of selected grapes. (Interestingly, one is labeled "Mission"!)But there are, alas, some imperfections. I've mentioned how the Pinot family tree is bound so that it is not all readable. While the paper in a volume this size is necessarily thin, the see-through on some pages is annoying; more opaque paper would have been nice. The label on the front of the slip case is somewhat crooked, and the one on the edge quite so. Production quality could have been better.Had this been a standard book at half or even two-thirds the price it would have been an easy five stars. But in a slip-cased book at this list price you expect a little better attention to detail than this book manages. So I reluctantly drop my rating to four stars. Still an excellent investment for or gift to a devoted oenophile, it is not quite the value it could have been with a little better physical execution.

Reviewer: Marco Sabellico
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: non può mancare nella biblioteca dell'appassionato

Reviewer: Saz Dosanjh
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: I don't know enough about wine to rank books about wine. I had read many of Jancis' columns in the Financial Times before I bought this book and I'm very happy with it. I would not recommend this to a novice to learn about wine, it's more a reference manual. On the other hand, if your interest wine is such that you are considering this book then I would say just go ahead and buy it, it's worth it.

Reviewer: Sergio A. S. Santiago
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Se existe uma uva no mundo que está sendo usada para fazer vinho, esta uva está aqui neste livro. Excelente guia de informação para ser consultado a todo momento. Este livro é de uma riqueza de detalhes impressionante. Cada uva é destrinchada e pode-se ter todo o tipo de informação possível e relevante a respeito de determinada uva. Sensacional, recomendo e muito.

Reviewer: Rupert H. W. Barnes
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: It is hard to imagine anything competing with this as the comprehensive textbook of wine grapes. This magnus opus features short articles on every grape variety imaginable both natural and laboratory developed. Each grape variety is ordered alphabetically with the following format: a guide to the colour; a list of the principal synonyms; a list of the varieties that the grape can be commonly mistaken for; a section on the origins and parentage of the grape; its vinicultural characteristics and finally a section of where the grape is grown and what it tastes like.An excellent introduction clearly explains how to use the book and gives a good and reasonably technical overview of grapes and vinology. Certain grapes have been illustrated using plates taken from the leading early twentieth century work in the field Ampelographie by Viala and Vermorel. Further a number of pull out pedigree diagrams in effect showing a 'family tree' across certain interrelated varieties are excellent at showing and explaining relationships between many grape varieties.Underpinning the entire work is the DNA profiling which has been conducted on all the grape varieties. Accordingly this book is not for the amateur but anyone with a string interest in wine (eg a WEST level 3) will find this a valuable reference tool which I suspect will be the leading text of its time.

Reviewer: tadj
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: どうしても、この本が読みたくなり、必要となったのだが、ハードカバーはなにしろ２万３千円くらいするし、かさ張る。kindle版がなんと２８００円で購入できると知り、即購入！有難い！いくつかのブドウ品種の項目を読んだだけで、このワインに使用されるブドウに関する究極の本だと理解できる。Jancis Robinsonがかつて１９９６年にだしたGuide to Wine Grapesは彼女の単著で、約８００種類のワイン用ブドウとワインの関係を論じていて、コンパクトながらぎっしりと重要な情報が詰まっていたが、この本は、さらに強力な協力者が加わり、世界中の１４００種類くらいのブドウとワインの関係をまとめており、比類のないレベルの本に仕上がっている。DNA鑑定の情報なども加わり、これから、ゆっくりと必要な項目を選んで読んでいくことになるだろう。なお、kindle版は、購入後は、私の３台のパソコンのどれでも読めるし、そのうえ、タブレットとスマホでも、勿論読めるのでありがたい。Hugh JohnsonのPocket Wine Book 2018もkindleだと４００円なので同時に購入した。有難い世の中だ！（追加；なお、最近、この英文版原著の日本語翻訳が出版された。高価だが、英文で読めない業者関係の方には必須だろう。最近、改めて目次前の長いが重要な序文を原著で読んだが、従来読んだり聞いてきた説とはまったく異なるブドウ品種の説明がショックだ！！Jancis Robinson自身の旧著の内容を自分で否定している！！！アメリカ独特のブドウと過剰宣伝されていたジンファンデルも、なんと、イタリアのプーリアに同じものがあり、そこからの移植だとＤＮＡ鑑定で判明した！原産地では高級葡萄の扱いではないようだ。フランスのブルゴーニュで高級葡萄として知られるピノノワール、ピノブランとピノグリなどは、皮の色が白から黒まで、交配後あれこれできたのだが、もともとは同一品種だと判明している、、等々、ワイン用ブドウの品種の知識に関心があるなら、これは必読書だ！）