Eyewitness Companions: French Wine

The book was most informative, as all Eyewitness publications are, and the photographs are the icing on the cake! A must have for any wine enthusiast.

I really love this book. French wine can be very confusing to many people. This book breaks down the wine by region, using full color photos nad very nice full color geographic maps. Also gives good basic info on the main foods for each region. If going to France, or just your local wine shop, this book would greatly help. I have a very stong knowledge of French wine, but still refer to this book often.

I have come to be enchanted by this series of books. This marks, if memory serves, the fourth of these books that I have enjoyed. The book provides a nice service by beginning with context for a description of current French wines by region. The slender volume begins with a history of wine in general, and then French wine in particular. The author, Robert Joseph, notes that French wine was around before 500 B. C. Then, a section on wine making. For those interested in the nitty gritty of wine, there follows a description of the variety of raw materials--grapes from red to white, from Carignan to Viognier (plus some miscellaneous varieties to boot). And so on. . . . I learned a lot about the basics in the first segments of this book, including how different wines are made. Then, we get to labels, and my eyes glazed over! The discussion of the grades of wine, culminating in Appellation d'origine controlee. Arcane, to say the least! But fascinating! What's meant by bouquet? Elegant? Stalky? The book goes through each term. The heart of the book follows, with a region by region description of wines and the wine producers. This section begins with Alsace and Lorraine and concludes with miscellany. I like a nice red Bordeaux. So, naturally, I went to the section on this region of France wine-making. Nice discussion of a tour of the region and its history. From pages 92-111, there is a description of a series of wines coming from this region. Chateau Margaux, Chateau Lafite-Rothschild, Chateau Mouton-Rothschild (famously headed in the latter part of the 20th century by Baron Philippe de Rothschild), and so on. Delightful writing and neat little tidbits abound. And on it goes, region by region. Some of the arcane facts leave me a bit dizzy and not sure that I'm "getting it." But that's part of the fun! If you want to get an enjoyable introduction to French wine, this little book is a good start!

First, let me state that I dearly love these Eyewitness Companions! This series of books is absolutely top quality, informative and a pure joy to read and own. Secondly, I have to admit to not being much of a snob when it comes to wine. I am usually pretty happy with a mid priced domestic wine and have difficulty telling a cheap bottle of French Wine from a top end one. Now I am a snob when it comes to French Cheese (actually, I am not a big fan of French cooking at all - I know, at worse I am a cultural barbarian, at best a peasant) and am a snob when it comes to olive oil. That is really beside the point of course, and one of the reasons for my reading this work was to gain a greater appreciation for wine from this part of the world. This book did the job! As with the other books in this series, this one is beautifully designed and more than easy to use. It starts with a general history of wine then moves into a history of French wine. It covers the subjects of how wine is made, wine tasting, the language of wine (an area in which I was totally lacking), serving wine, food and wine, investing, vintages and touring the wine country of France. Now fear not. You really do not have to actually travel to France (although that would be nice) to enjoy this book or to enjoy French Wine. Many of the varieties featured here are available in the United States and more are becoming available each year. The book then addresses most of the major types and brands of wine in the country of France. It gives detailed maps and descriptions of the region, the type of grape used and the process in which it is made. The author has done us a favor in that he has placed more emphasis on the actual wine maker and not specific vintages (although he does address this) which I feel so often is a mistake as it makes much on the information in a wine book obsolete before the ink even get dry on the book. This work is well illustrated with plenty of beautiful pictures and, thank goodness plenty of maps. Now this book is also set up as a great travel guide for those that are fortunate enough to be planning a trip to this part of the world. This is certainly one little volume you will want to pack. I might suggest a companion book to go along with this one; The Wines of France by Jacqueline Friedrich. Between these two books, the average person, like me, will be able to ferret out enough information to make the drinking and use of French Wine a much more enjoyable experience. You of course will not become an over night expert on the subject, but then you really do not need to be one of those critters to enjoy good drink and good food, do you. Recommend this one highly. I cannot see how you could go wrong by owning it.

I have bought the latest edition (2005) of this title as well as the previous one published in 1999. This is one of the most helpful reference books on the world of French wines that you can find on the bookshelves today. The book is attractive in its size (handy), layout (very easy to locate chapter titles, topic headings, etc.), illustrations (touring maps, appellation maps in nice colours and quick to understand key), succinct text (giving you enough and relevant information). The alphabetical division of the book into the major wine-making regions of France and within each chapter, the alphabetical listing of the different sub-appellations and wines makes it really practical and a most handy and quick reference when you are searching for a particular fact or need useful information on a particular French wine or region. I highly recommend this title if you are looking for a very informative, easy to use (ie. user friendly), helpful, slim, well written book on French wines with incisive and authoritative information and comments. The author's knowledge of his subject is both deep and wide and he conveys this in an accesible manner.