The Wine Bible

1985 Pages·2015·56.78 MB·English

KAREN MACNEIL
THE WINE BIBLE
REVISED SECOND EDITION
WORKMAN PUBLISHING | NEW YORK
To Emma,
who has taught me the meaning of love
And to Harvey,
who has taught me the meaning of friendship
And to the lesson of red tulips …

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The process of writing a book involves a contradiction. For years, the writer breathes the
thin air of solitude and lives within the isolation of her own mind. Yet at the same time,
she is surrounded by hundreds of people without whose help—large and small—the book
simply would not be.
Over the four years it took to research, write, and taste my way to this second edition of
The Wine Bible, I was helped by a group of smart, dynamic, dedicated wine pros who
conducted endless amounts of research, unearthed thousands of facts, tasted and evaluated
nearly 10,000 wines with me and were, in every way imaginable, the buttresses that
allowed The Wine Bible to be built.
ABOVE ALL WAS Elizabeth Caravati, my assistant for the years during which I wrote the
second edition. Elizabeth was there with me in the writing trenches when the trenches got
very deep and numerous. For her brilliant mind, impeccable organization, and amazing
dedication, I will always be grateful.
ALONG WITH ELIZABETH, a core team of talented wine pros worked tirelessly and
brilliantly on research, photos, wines, and support structure. I am deeply indebted to
Lauren Marsh Banks, Lauren Watters, Linda Schmitt, Alexandra Shimizu, Lauren
Cadwallader, Stacey Carlo, Rebecca Fletcher, Emma Thomas, Jessi Moyle, Elizabeth
Hemphill, Kort van Bronkhorst, Jacqueline Rogers, Jonathan Williams, Christina Hieb,
and Michael Hoefling. You are all extraordinary people whose hard work (and fantastic
palates) were indispensable.
OF COURSE NO BOOK is ever really a good book without the deep belief and demands of an
editor and a publisher. To Suzanne Rafer, editor and visionary extraordinaire, thank you. I
am, as ever, grateful for your guiding grace and amazing intellect. And to the late, much-
missed Peter Workman—one of the titans of publishing and the first person who believed
in this book—I know you are right this moment in heaven, working on the real bible.
WHEN I HANDED OVER the 4,000-something page manuscript, I held my breath. What
would it look like? Jean-Marc Troadec is a brilliant designer, and the fact that he fell in
love with the wines of Burgundy (and this project) was a great bit of luck for me. Michael
Dimascio, thank you for agonizing over the 1,500 photos we sent you and rounding up
even more. Sarah Brady—you’re the only person I can email at midnight saying, “Can
you fix the comma we messed up on page 923?” Enormous thanks, too, to Beth Levy for
guiding the manuscript through its many editing passes, and to Barbara Peragine for
perfecting the page layouts. Thanks also to Selina Meere, Chloe Puton, Jessica Wiener,
Moira Kerrigan, Doug Wolff, and David Schiller, and the whole fantastic team at
Workman Publishing—you’re the best.
ALL WRITERS WRITE within a world created by their colleagues. The writers below are not
only friends—they are among the inspired people who have helped make the wine
industry rich and dynamic. Thank you to Gerald Asher, Andy Blue, Mary Ewing-Mulligan
MW, Antonio Galloni, Howard G. Goldberg, Evan Goldstein, Jim Gordon, Sarah Kemp,
Matt Kramer, Rick Kushman, Meredith May, Ed McCarthy, Elin McCoy, Jay McInerney,
Sophie Menin, Robert M. Parker, Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Andrea Robinson MS, Jancis
Robinson MW, Steven Spurrier, Brian St. Pierre, Terry Theise, Alder Yarrow, and Kevin
Zraly.
AND THEN THERE were the hundreds of wine professionals who answered endless research
questions in painstaking detail, and photographers who provided us with stellar imagery.
FOR THEIR EXPERTISE, professionalism, talent and sheer massive knowledge, I am thankful
to: Ana Abreu, Greg Allen, Janine Allen, Sao Anash, Holly Anderson, Maggie Anderson,
Gail Appleson, Travis Arnesen, Susan Auler, Christopher Barefoot, Xavier Barlier, Daniel
Baron, Alfredo Bartholomaus, Meaghan Becker, Didier Bedu, Danene Beedle, Jeremy
Benson, Marybeth Bentwood, Jennifer Berry, Bob Bertheau, Tania Bicknell, Anna
Boatwright, Angela Bortugno, Dr. Roger B. Boulton, Katia Braithwaite, Jennifer Brown,
Catherine Bugue, Kimberly Burfiend, Lacey Burke, Steve Burns, Karel Bush, Barbara
Cacao, George Caloyannidis, Robert Camuto, Jean-Louis Carbonnier, Kristen Carrillo,
Beth Cash, Doug Caskey, Kate Chaplin, Kimberly Charles, Pierre Cheval, Molly Choi,
Steffen Christmann, Andrea Mingfai Chu, Tracy Clark, John Concannon, Alex Conison,
Allison Conway, Rogelio Cortés Ricárdez, Tom Cosentino, Susan-Anne Cosgrove, Bobby
Cox, Eileen Crane, Jean-Charles Cuvelier, Allison Dallas, Eric Danch, Mark Davidson,
Sarah Davis, Eric Dench, Frank Dietrich, Sara Dirks, Joanne Dow, Yannick Doyard,
David Duncan, Jennifer Eckinger, Tom Elliot, Michèle Ellner, Maria Ferri, Michelle
Fleming, Véronique Foureur, Frederick Frank, Owen Franken, Jon Fredrikson, Lacey
Fussel, Linsey Gallagher, Robin Garr, Emil Gaspari, Axel Gillery, John Gillespie,
Anthony Gismondi, Marlène Gloaguen, Cécile Gonzalez, Charlotte Good, Penelope
Goodsall, Randall Grahm, Nigel Greening, Chryssa Gribabi, Shannon Gunier, Eva
Gurfein, Robert Haas, Barbara Handl, Timothy Hartley, Sam Heitner, Dr. Ed Hellman,
Oscar Henquet, Dr. Hildegarde Heymann, Robert Hill-Smith, Olivia Hoffman, Tom
Hogue, Gladys Horiuchi, Glenn Hugo, Patrick Hunt, Mitzi Inglis, Tim Irwin, Gene Ivester,
Elisabeth Jaubert, Karla Jensen, Christopher Jones, Magdalena Kaiser, Leon Karatsalos,
Vincenza Kelly, Lindsay Kelm, Molly Kennedy, Jane Kettlewell, Tina Kezeli, Sue Kibbe,
Dr. Aaron Kingsbury, Don Kinnan, Shae Kinsman, Chris Kissack, Kerstin Klamm, Suzie
Kukaj, Fran Kysela, Valerie Lailheugue, Kara Larmie, Jason Lett, Jeff Leve, Matthew
Levy, Nancy Light, Zach Long, Pedro Lopes Vieira, Kat Luna, Kermit Lynch, Avis
Mandel, Jeff Marazoni, Augusto Marchini, Jean-Pierre Mareigner, May Matta-Aliah,
Jarrod McCann, Sharron McCarthy, Patsy McGaughy, Stephanie McIntyre, Beth
McMahon, Dr. Carole Meredith, Jan Mettler, Janis Miglavs, Amber Mihna, Catherine
Miles, Arnie Millan, Alexia Moore, Christian Moya, Heather Muhleman, Megan Murphy,
Katrin Naelapaa, Jonathan Nahrgang, Charles Neal, Mariana Nedic, Grant Newton,
Heather Thompson Noll, Erica Nonni, Dieter Odendaal, Kathy O’Neal, Betty
O’Shaughnessy Woolls, Jennifer Pagano, Elpida Palamida, Marsha Palanci, Frédéric
Panaïotis, Sarah Papenfus, Lluís Pellejà Serra, Ryan Pennington, Sofia Perpera, Bridget
Perrault, Susan Piovesan, Thomas Pothmann, Marla Priest, Julie-Adele Provansal, Alain
Puginier, Erik Quam, Sona Rai, Alyssa Rapp, Linda Reiff, Dr. Thomas J. Rice, Georg
Riedel, George Rose, Louisa Rose, Monica Rosenthal, Leslie Rudd, Ronnie Sanders,
Carla Sarabia, Bethany Scherline, Emily Schindler, Meredith Schlacter, Thea Schlendorf,
Claire Schmitt, Frank Schulz, Marie-Louise Schÿler, Jami Segoria, Johannes Selbach,
Robert Shack, Doug Shafer, John Shafer, Hiram Simon, Monica Simpson, Katie Sims,
Nicki Sizemore, Anthony Smith, Jim Smith, Wendy Lane Stevens, Tom Stevenson, Sabine
Stock, Sherry Stolar, Guy Stout, David Strada, Jordi Suárez Baldrís, Jim Sweeney, Tracy
Sweeney, Rupert Symington, Dr. Ludger Tekampe, Clark Z. Terry, Elaine Testa, Stephanie
Teuwen, Karen Thornton, Lori Tieszen, Jim Trezise, Maru Valdés, Joanna Vlahos, Paul
Wagner, Teresa Wall, Karli Warner, Ross Wasserman, Belinda Weber, Rebecca Weber,
Wilhelm Weil, Diego Weiss, Shannon Wesley, Peter Weygandt, Bryce Wiatrak, Philippe
Wibrotte, Jen Wilkinson, Paul Woolls, Alan Zalayet and the Eisch Glass team, Annette
Zangrandi, and Joco Znidarsic.

CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION: WHY WINE MATTERS
HOW TO USE THIS BOOK
MASTERING WINE
WHAT MAKES GREAT WINE GREAT?
WHAT MAKES WINE, WINE? THE BUILDING BLOCKS
WHERE IT ALL BEGINS
HOW WINE IS MADE
GETTING TO KNOW THE GRAPES
SENSUAL GEOGRAPHY: TASTING WINE LIKE A PROFESSIONAL
MARRYING WELL: WINE AND FOOD
THE TEN QUESTIONS ALL WINE DRINKERS ASK
FRANCE
BORDEAUX
CHAMPAGNE
BURGUNDY
BEAUJOLAIS
THE RHÔNE
THE LOIRE
ALSACE
LANGUEDOC-ROUSSILLON
PROVENCE
ARMAGNAC AND COGNAC
ITALY
PIEDMONT
THE VENETO
FRIULI-VENEZIA GIULIA
TUSCANY
OTHER IMPORTANT WINE REGIONS
Trentino-Alto Adige
Lombardy
Liguria
Emilia-Romagna
Umbria
Abruzzi
The Southern Peninsula