The Concise World Atlas of Wine

by Hugh Johnson & Jancis Robinson
Mitchell Beazley, 352 pp., $29.99 (paper)

Most folks see wine as a simple beverage or a part of a meal. But for a few, it’s much more – an amalgamation of flavors, aromas, memories of places visited, and ideas for places yet to come. Hugh Johnson and Jancis Robinson’s Concise World Atlas of Wine is for the people who have fallen hard for the entire experience and who know that geography, weather patterns, and Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée, or AOC, regulations play an important role in understanding why a Napa chardonnay tastes different from one from Burgundy.

The authors also wrote The World Atlas of Wine (Mitchell Beazley, 2008, now in its sixth printing since 1971), a mammoth 12-inch-by-10-inch tome weighing in at 5 pounds, and thus a little tough to take on a trip. The Concise World Atlas of Wine is packable, and it sacrifices little in the way of information, though armchair travelers might miss the wealth of pictures in the original. The maps are definitive, the information is authoritative, and the authors have an unmatched ability to present solid information without ever sounding supercilious. Highly recommended for the oenophile on your list.

This article appears in December 4 • 2009.

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Wes Marshall is the author of What's a Wine Lover To Do? (Artisan) and The Wine Roads of Texas (Maverick), as well as the Executive Producer of the PBS television series of the same name. Wes has written for The Austin Chronicle since 1999, covering wine, cocktails, food, and travel.