Book Review:
The World Atlas of Wine
(7th Edition)
Hugh Johnson & Jancis Robinson
My 5th edition was looking a bit dated, as I had gotten it some decades ago, so I ordered a used copy of the 7th edition from Amazon ($11.82 shipped) and read it cover to cover over a few months, a couple pages at a time. As always, it is excellent, and a great reference for enthusiasts, even if one may not read it in depth. One can keep copies around, and open it to the relevant pages if curious about a wine one is drinking, or mulling over purchasing.
The first 40 pages cover a range of overall topics: grapes, weather, terroir, vineyards, wineries etc. Although people here generally will know all that, its still a good backdrop for the regional focuses, and I would not consider it filler material. I learned plenty from that section.
The meat of the book is the regional deep dives. France gets the lions share of the book at 100 pages, Italy at roughly 40 pages, Spain 20, Portugal 15, Germany 20, and the rest of Europe gets 35 pages. North America, which is primarily the US gets 40 pages. I thought the coverage of the North Coast was particularly good btw, and many specific vineyards are shown. South America gets 10 pages. Oz gets 20 pages, and then NZ/SA get 15 or so.
Pictures are generally stunning, and the maps are detailed, but a little hard to read since so much is crammed into them. They also are not always aligned with North being top of page, since some regions are awkward to fit into the sizing. Sidebars are informative, and the authors selections of labels are more likely on what they like, or regional standard bearers, rather than the names that might be most in fashion today. The book is heavy and large, good for a coffee table or credenza in a tasting room, rather than easily navigated in ones chair.
Although the Atlas is from 2013, and surely parts were written well before that, it doesn’t feel dated (to me). The newest edition is the 8th, with editing work taken over by Jancis I think, and came out a year or so ago, running $60. If one doesn’t have a copy, the 7th remains plentiful on Amazon ($8 shipped when I checked a few min ago). A nice way to chew through the book is to open a bottle from the various regions as one works their way through it