Oz Clarke's Pocket Wine Guide 2003 (Oz Clarke's Pocket Wine Book) Clarke, Oz

Product Description The latest edition of this indispensable guide, Oz Clarke's Pocket Wine Guide 2003 has been thoroughly updated and offers Clarke's always-anticipated lists such as "World Class Wines that Don't Cost the Earth" and "The 10 Best-Kept Secrets." Perhaps the most notable achievement of any annual guide is that it changes, and Oz Clarke's Pocket Wine Guide is especially remarkable for this. For the 2003 guide, the wines, wineries, producers, and others have been meticulously reexamined and reconsidered. In addition, of course, the guide is notable for its ease of use. Unlike other comprehensive guides, every wine, grape, winery, producer, and region is accessible by name rather than by location. As fresh as the last harvest, as handy as the yellow pages, Oz Clarke's Pocket Wine Guide 2003 retains its position as simply the best comprehensive pocket guide to wine in the world. From Publishers Weekly Clarke, a columnist for Wine Enthusiast, presents a fully updated and alphabetized catalog of vineyards, grapes and growing regions in the latest edition of his annual wine guide. Although informative-detailing everything from recent climate changes in New Zealand to the correct wines to drink with game birds-the guide does suffer from tiny print and an almost maniacal attention to detail. It relies on a star-based rating system; the one-star Kenwood Sauvignon Blanc "highlights floral and melon flavours with a slightly earthy finish," while the three-star Romanie Conti Grand Cru burgundy is described as "the pinnacle." It's unclear exactly who this guidebook is for: some of the information is appropriate for a reader who's never even seen a wine list before, while other descriptions seem geared toward experienced-even fanatic-oenophiles. But the breadth of this tiny guide is such that it provides a real wine education for anyone willing to squint. (Nov.) Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. About the Author Oz Clarke is one of the world's leading wine experts. He has won all the major wine writing awards, including the Glenfiddich (three times), the André Simon, the Wine Guild (three times), the Julia Child, and the James Beard awards. He is a regular columnist for The Wine Enthusiast. He lives in London.