The Karwig Wines's Blog

Imagine if you could only have one wine reference book on your shelf. What would it be ? There are so many great ones to choose from. I love books in general and wine books in particular, especially in recent years. Books have always been a part of my life from “Noddy” books as a wee boy, (Secret Seven, Famous Five, Three Investigators, Hardy Boys anyone ?) to the varied stuff I read now that I am *ahem* a grown up. I was lucky that my family loved books and my parents still buy me a book for Christmas every year. Our house is full of books and because of that, my kids love reading too (thankfully). It also gives me a great excuse to read some of the old books again. . . .

I started collecting wine books in the last couple of years. I was given a present by great friends of mine (check out their excellent online wine magazine). It was Oz Clarkes Wine Atlas. A beautiful book by a big favourite of mine. That really started me off. I had a few books in my collection at that time but from there I started collecting at a rate. Its a wonderful book, beautifully written and gorgeous illustrations.

In addition to Oz Clarke, some of my favourite wine authors include Hugh Johnson, Michael Broadbent, Robert Joseph, Andrew Jefford, Gary Vaynerchuk . . . The list goes on and on. But coming back to my opening question. If I was only allowed one reference book . . . . . . .

Well, it would be by one of the writers I have not mentioned yet, the wonderful Jancis Robinson. The Oxford Companion to Wine is my “go to” wine book. You name it, its in there. Any wine, region, variety, term, anything to do with wine, you will find it in this superb book. If its not in there, you probably dont need to know it.

Now, be warned. You may need to work out to use this book. For a start, its 840 pages long and weighs about the same as my car. And its brilliant. There is not a day goes by that I dont take it off the shelf and check something. I always find the answers to my questions in the beautifully written pages.

I heard a great story that sums up the book. Jancis Robinson was visiting the wonderful Ballymaloe House, giving a wine masterclass. One of the learned audience asked a particularly specific question that left the host pondering for a moment. Calm as you like, Jancis turned to the person who asked the question and said “I’ll have to look myself up” and reached for her Oxford Companion to Wine. Brilliant.

But why all this reading ? I’d rather taste wine than read about it I hear you say. Well personally I find that the more I read and learn about wine, the more I enjoy it. (I learn something new every day – one of the things I love so much about wine). I may read about a grape variety or a region or a producer or a specific wine and it fires my imagination and I wonder what it would be like to try such a wine. Reading takes me down wine roads that otherwise I might not travel. It helps me understand why I like a wine but more than anything else, it gets me trying new and interesting wines. And that can’t be a bad thing.

So its only a few weeks to the festive season so why not write a letter to the big man in the red suit in the North Pole and put the The Oxford Companion to Wine on your list. And call down to Karwigs and we will find you a lovely wine to go with it.

Happy reading and wine exploring.