Pinot noir, the famously elegant, sexy, and capricious red grape of Burgundy, is finally producing impressive wines in North America. Credit talented winemakers, enthusiastic restaurateurs, and consumers in search of alternatives to cabernet and zinfandel. Considered perhaps the ultimate food wine, pinot noir has an allure based on its special combination of aromas, flavors, and mouthfeel; on its legendary capacity to reflect the terroir where it is grown; and on its reputation for being hard to grow and make. This is the definitive work on pinot noir in North America. A comprehensive reference for winemakers and aficionados as well as a sourcebook for casual enthusiasts, it includes extensive historical and viticultural background on pinot noir in the New World and profiles of six dozen prominent producers in California, Oregon, British Columbia, and New York. John Winthrop Haeger, known for his perceptive wine writing for more than fifteen years, gives contextual and comparative information about pinot noir in Burgundy and then tells the story of wine producers' early failures, frustrations, and breakthroughs in North America. He discusses plant genetics and clones, identifies the essential conditions for really good pinot, tells where the best wines are grown and made, and analyzes the factors that determine wine styles and signatures. In the second part of the book, he presents detailed producer profiles with accessibly written tasting notes on recent and mature vintages. A final section covers glassware, vintages, wine and food pairings, and other matters of interest to consumers. Maps prepared especially for this book cover all the major pinot-producing regions in North America.

"Barossa Shiraz: Discovering the tastes of the Barossa?s regions is the first book in Australia to systematically investigate the relationship between the flavour of a wine and its origin. This book is based on author Thomas Girgensohn's extensive knowledge of Australian wines and his personal research over nearly 30 years. He focuses on the Barossa, Australias best-known wine region, and explores Shiraz, Australia's most popular wine. Barossa Shiraz explains the concept of terroir - the contribution of the vineyard's site to the quality of the grapes and wine produced from it - in easy to understand terms. Barossa Shiraz divides the Barossa into eleven sub-regions, each with its own terroir. Major differences between terroirs are identified, and a tasting profile for each sub-region is provided. Thomas Girgensohn examines major wineries and benchmark vineyards - those whose wines display the sub-regional characteristics best. Their locations are shown on detailed maps, and the book includes profiles of leading Barossa winemakers. This is the first time an author has set out to characterise the sub-regions of a famous district according to the flavour and qualities of the wines produced rather than simply climatic or geological factors. Reading Barossa Shiraz will enable enthusiasts to appreciate the differences in flavour and structure of Shiraz - and to enjoy their wine even more!Barossa Shiraz: Discovering the tastes of the Barossa?s regions is the first book in Australia to systematically investigate the relationship between the flavour of a wine and its origin. This book is based on author Thomas Girgensohn's extensive knowledge of Australian wines and his personal research over nearly 30 years. He focuses on the Barossa, Australias best-known wine region, and explores Shiraz, Australia's most popular wine. Barossa Shiraz explains the concept of terroir - the contribution of the vineyard's site to the quality of the grapes and wine produced from it - in easy to understand terms. Barossa Shiraz divides the Barossa into eleven sub-regions, each with its own terroir. Major differences between terroirs are identified, and a tasting profile for each sub-region is provided. Thomas Girgensohn examines major wineries and benchmark vineyards - those whose wines display the sub-regional characteristics best. Their locations are shown on detailed maps, and the book includes profiles of leading Barossa winemakers. This is the first time an author has set out to characterise the sub-regions of a famous district according to the flavour and qualities of the wines produced rather than simply climatic or geological factors. Reading Barossa Shiraz will enable enthusiasts to appreciate the differences in flavour and structure of Shiraz - and to enjoy their wine even more!" --Publisher.

"The Australian Wine Guide covers types and styles of wine, wine production, sensory evaluation, wine and food matching, wine storage and service. It teaches you about developing your palate, interpreting a wine label and about imported wine. Wine and food matching and Australian geographical regions have been completely updated and expanded. Leading Australian winemakers offer their thoughts on grape varieties and wine regions. Some 3000 wines were tasted for the new edition. Wines have been rated into three categories - Outstanding, Highly Recommended and Recommended: providing an essential guide for your next visit to a wine region, bottle shop or internet wine selling site."--Publisher's website.

Until very recently, most grape-based wine was consumed close to where it was produced, and mostly that was in Europe. Barely one-tenth of the worlds wine production was exported prior to the 1970s, even counting intra-European trade. The latest wave of globalization has changed that forever. Now more than one - third of all wine consumed globally is produced in another country, and Europes dominance of global wine trade has been greatly diminished by the surge of exports from New World producers. New consumers also have come onto the scene as incomes have grown, eating habits have changed and tastes have broadened. Asia in particular is emerging as a new and rapidly growing wine market-and in China that is stimulating the development of local, modern production capability that, in volume terms, already rivals that of Argentina, Australia and South Africa. Expands on earlier editions in a number of ways. Now separately identifies an extra eight Asian countries or customs areas (Hong Kong, India, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand) in addition to China and Japan. Also includes more than 50 new tables to cover such items as excise and import taxes, per capita expenditure on wine, the share of domestic sales in off - trade, the shares of the largest firms in national markets and globally, and the most powerful wine brands globally. Given the growing interest in the health aspects of alcohol consumption, also now expresses it per adult as well as per capita. Perhaps the most significant addition to this latest version is a new section that provides estimates of the volume, value and hence unit value of wine production, consumption, exports and imports for four catagories - non-premium, commercial-premium, super-premium and sparkling wines.

So many wines, so many labels, so much choice and so little time. Which wines to buy? Which ones offer the best value? Do you have to spend a fortune to get something half drinkable? Don't panic - help has arrived. Quaff 2011 tells you all you need to know about buying the best value-for-money wines and tracking down fantastic bargains. Inside you'll find tasting notes for more than 350 standout wines, all under $15, including: sparkling wines, white wines, pink wines, red wines, sweet wines and fortified wines Quaff 2011 also lets you in on more than 100 great-value wines over $15, mouthwatering imported wines for under $20, cask wines that are well worth buying, plus a one-stop list of the top 20 quaffing wines of 2010. You can also receive free weekly reviews of top value wines at www.quaff.com.au.

Halliday shares his extensive knowledge of wine via detailed tasting notes, each of which includes vintage-specific ratings and advice on optimal drinking, as well as alcohol content, price and a value rating. He provides important details on wineries - including opening times, contact details, vineyard sizes and web addresses - in addition to biographies on each, and information about the winemakers.

Quaff 2010, the essential guide for the savvy wine-drinker, provides tasting notes for more than 400 good-value local and imported wines, listing them by variety in an easy-to-follow-format. This year Forrie has also selected his top 100 wines, and shortlists the top budget wines for each variety. An annual favourite, Quaff remains the only guide to affordable drinking.

James Halliday's Australian Wine Companion is the No.1 bestselling guide to wineries and wine in Australia. Keenly anticipated by winemakers, faithful collectors and wine lovers alike, the 2010 edition has been completely revised and updated to bring you up-to-the-minute information.