Wine News: Words on Wine, From Opposing Shores

"For two entirely different perspectives on wine, you can do no better than Robert M. Parker Jr. and Hugh Johnson. They are American and British, Venus and Mars, Vidal and Mailer, with each representing for the other much of what's irritating, if not dangerous, in the world of wine. What, then, could be more delicious than for both men to have written new books?"

"Mr. Johnson, the older of the two, has been writing about wine for 40 years. His new book, A Life Uncorked (University of California Press, $35), available next month, is not so much an autobiography as a loving but bittersweet look back at bottles he's emptied and the people and places that produced them."

"Mr. Johnson may move the mind, but Mr. Parker moves the market. When he loves a wine, the public tends to love it, too. In his new book, The World's Greatest Wine Estates: A Modern Perspective (Simon & Schuster, $75), Mr. Parker offers up his nominees for the 155 greatest wine producers. No doubt Mr. Johnson would dispute some of Mr. Parker's choices, but chances are he would agree with most of them.

This is a handsome reference guide, for the most part full of technical details that aficionados will dip into from time to time."

For more ideas on great new books about wine...

Read the full article here.

You can find all of the books mentioned in the above article at Amazon.com.

A Life Uncorked

The World's Greatest Wine Estates : A Modern Perspective

The Wines of the Northern Rhone

The Great Wines of America: The Top Forty Vintners, Vineyards, and Vintages

Champagne : How the World's Most Glamorous Wine Triumphed Over War and Hard Times

The Science of Wine : From Vine to Glass