The Wines of Greece - Konstantinos Lazarakis
Wine is French, wine is Italian. Wine is Californian, or Australian… nowadays,
we don’t think that wine is Greek. Oh, but it is. Might
we remind you that the Greeks were drinking wine since mythological times.
That’s where Konstantinos Lazarakis starts his book, “The Wines of Greece”. He chronicles the history of Greek wine and its contemporary relevance in the international wine market. The book is the all-around reference to Greek wine. From the background history to current wineries, “The Wines of Greece” explains everything in detail. 486 pages of detail, with an index, to be exact.
Yikes. It’s not to say the book doesn’t have an audience; the book appeals to history buffs and foodies alike. It’s just that no matter how interested in wine the average person may be, this book is too hefty to be anyone’s Underground reading material. (Did we mention there aren’t any pictures or illustrations?)
It’s a great book to give to a colleague who has an interest in wine. Or someone looks like they’re a person who might be interested in wine. It’s the sort of “yeah, this’ll do”, limited investment sort of present so prevalent these days.
It’s likely you’ll find this book lurking in a bathroom rather than on a bedside table. The issue is, the book covers so much, that the quality time required to read it is probably only found in the privacy of the loo.
Sure, I might be smarter for reading it, but “The Wines of Greece” probably isn’t going to get me to request a glass of Greek libation at my next meal.
LJ
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Wine Report 2006 - Tom Stevenson and a unique team of regional specialists
Wine Report 2006 has more information about wine than you can shake a stick
at. It’s not a wine book for dummies, rather, it serves as the
yearly update for the well-informed wine connoisseur. In fact, it’s
a little frustrating to look at if you’re not the wine aficionado type.
Author Tom Stevenson assigned a team of highly educated regional experts to report on their pet wine region. Each author was given freedom of opinion in discussing the trends and happenings of their particular area of expertise.
Each geographical section starts with a round up of the year’s news from that region, an opinion about the year, and a vintage report. For wine novices, the vintage report highlights the true science in each grape-growing season. It also has handy lists of wine producers, bargains, and most exciting finds.
Each contributor was asked to submit four entries to create a list of the 100 most exciting wines. (Stevenson assigned himself the arduous task of whittling down the 150-plus submissions to the absolute 100 most exciting wines.) Listed in the back of the book, the list is a veritable wine enthusiast’s scavenger hunt. As some of the bottles are new or in limited production, they aren’t readily found at your local wine shop, rather, you may have to contact the producer herself to get your hands on a bottle.
Interestingly, Wine Report 2006 includes a section that echoes our other reviewed wine book, The Wines of Greece. Nico Manessis’ report from Greece explains the Greek wine industry’s failure to capitalise on the publicity brought by the Olympic Games. So the trend stays true that, though there is a lot going on in the Greek wine world, it’s all happening quietly.
The bottom line is this: if you’re about to open up your own vineyard, or attend massive amounts of parties where wine knowledge is the subject of conversation, then this book is an absolute must-read. If you’re just interested in the world of wine, there are probably more appropriate choices out there.
LJ
