Learning about and discovering new wines
Now in its 47th year of publication, Hugh Johnson’s Pocket Wine Book is the world’s best-selling annual wine guide. The key reference book for any wine lover – with helpful facts and commentary on everything from grape varieties, to vintages, to wine growers and regions, as well as advice on which foods go with which wines. This is the wine book! A perfect Christmas gift.
Waterstones £14.99
For another Christmas gift idea for a wine lover, see here.
An ideal gift for a wine lover who is keen to learn more about the newest New World wine country – England (and Wales). Oz Clarke’s ‘English Wine – from still to sparkling’ tells the story of the transformation of the wine scene on this fair island over the last few decades.
Starting with a history of English wine from how it used to be, Clarke takes the reader through the Nyetimber Effect and the changes it heralded to where we are now. There’s a great section on location and a comprehensive overview of vineyards and wineries across England and Wales, with lots of useful information, including contact details, wine recommendations etc.
All you ever wanted to know about English (and Welsh) wine – all in one place. A great book. And the perfect gift for your favourite wine lover!
Waterstones £20
For other great gift ideas featuring English & Welsh wines, whether bottles, cases or wine tastings, visit Grape Britannia
This neat wine thermometer is a quick and easy way of checking the temperature of your wine bottle and is a very useful little gadget for any wine drinker. An ideal stocking filler for a wine-lover!
It’s a simple cuff that fits around the bottle and quickly displays the temperature. It also gives the recommended serving temperatures for the most popular wines.
Available from Lakeland, John Lewis, Amazon etc. Priced around £9.00 -£11.00
For other wine-related Christmas gift ideas, see here
There is much to celebrate in one of the world’s most exciting wine regions – England and Wales.
This new book by wine expert and photographer Ed Dallimore is a fantastic resource for any wine lover wanting to know more about English and Welsh wine. Ed takes you on a fascinating adventure through Britain’s wineries and vineyards. You get to meet the people making top-quality wines, learn about their wines and get some great advice and recommendations from Ed.
Three key elements permeate the narrative: the right sites, the right soils and the right people, and from the south-west to the north of England, from urban wineries in London and Cambridge to vineyards in the shadow of the Black Mountains in Wales, you get to understand how these three factors combine to produce some really excellent wines, both sparkling and still.
Whether it’s White Castle Vineyard in Abergavenny, Gutter & Stars Urban Winery in a Cambridge mill, Rathfinny Wine Estate in East Sussex, or 140-odd others, this book will give you all the background you need and take you on an informative journey through the vineyards and wineries of Britain.
It’s a great read and the perfect Christmas gift for your favourite wine lover!
Available from Waterstones (£19.99)