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Book ReviewsChristie's World Encyclopedia Of Champagne & Sparkling Wine |
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Book: Christie's World Encyclopedia Of Champagne & Sparkling Wine
Written by: Tom Stevenson |
Publisher: Wine Appreciation Guild
Average Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5
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Tom Stevenson's World of champagne, a more apt title
Rating:
2 / 5
As a wine connoisseur, I am stunned to see an unexplainable omission in this book: there is NO mention of Romania, even though it was the fourth country in the world to produce sparkling wines (btw, that's what champagne is, a sparkling wine named after the region...) after France, Russia (Ucraine) and Germany. In 1862 the first commercial sparkling wine business is established in Timisoara, with many more to follow, including Bucharest in 1913. How is this possible and how can it be overlooked, since there were exports of "bubbly" to England (the author's country) from Romania going back to the 1920's... Besides, wine growing was always native to Romania since times immemorial - unlike many of the countries listed. Kenya makes the list (1992), and Israel (1980) and Malta (1995)...and England (1976)! The "experts" have outdone themselves this time. Perhaps they should hire fewer wine-tasters and more historians when they write a "World" Encyclopedia next time ... SO, when's this glaring omission going to be corrected, Mr. Stevenson ?
And one more thing - you surely must be joking when you put together in the same sentence wine, or wine-producing (any wine!), and England. It's no secret that the British were the customers of the French since day one, and when thet temporarily dried up, the English became Spanish customers (translation=Rioja, that which almost passes for the Bordeaux (your beloved claret) you couldn't secure any longer). So, if I had a choice of sparkling from,say ...England, and Zimbawe, I'll choose Zimbawe - they have more experience in making "bubbly". They started exporting in 1975 (was that a good year for a Zimbawe vintage, Tom ?), so they preceded England by one year.
Nice book, fine graphics .. and an inexcusable mistake.
Incomplete reference!
Rating:
3 / 5
GRAPE GRIPE: The book presents products from Malta (with a nine year tradition in champagnes), but does not mention any of the Romanian ones (with a 157 years tradition).
TRIVIA: Romanians had the first wine prohibition when the king had the vineyards burnt down to sober his army up as the Romans were approaching (first century A.D.). They have a local grape variety that has been cultivated continuously for the last two millenia. Romania wass the fourth country to produce champagne (chronologically) and is currently ranked ninth by the vineyards area.
CONCLUSION: While this book is an excellent lecture, calling it an encyclopedia is a bit misleading. I wonder what other information is missing...
comprehensive list of all French champagne houses
Rating:
5 / 5
This is the bible about all what you always wanted to know about champagne. Who invented it (Dom Perignon), who is the oldest wine producer in the Champagne (Gosset), which is the oldest champagne company (Ruinart) and which is the best champagne (Krug)? Find out all about the difference between Grand Crus, Premier Crus and Grand Marques. But also learn all about the history and the production process of the methode champagnoise. Lastly, there is a comprehensive list of all French champagne houses, including a brief description and rating, as well as a concise overview of the other sparkling wine regions in the world which, however, are not allowed to call their produce champagne anymore nowadays. The real champagne is restricted to the world-famous region East of Paris.
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