 Fourth edition cover | |
| Editor | Jancis Robinson |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Subject | Wine |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press |
Publication date | September 2015 (fourth edition) |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Media type | Print (hardcover) |
| Pages | 860 |
| ISBN | 978-0-19-870538-3 |
| OCLC | 921140648 |
| 641.2/2 22 | |
| LC Class | TP548 .O76 2015 |
The Oxford Companion to Wine (OCW) is a book in theseries ofOxford Companions published byOxford University Press. The book provides an alphabetically arranged reference towine, compiled and edited byJancis Robinson, with contributions by several wine writers includingHugh Johnson,Michael Broadbent, andJames Halliday,[1] and experts such asviticulturistRichard Smart andoenologistPascal Ribéreau-Gayon.[2]
The contract for the first edition was signed in 1988, and after five years of writing it was published in 1994.[3] The second edition was published in 1999 and the third in 2006. The fourth edition, published in 2015, contains nearly 4,104 entries[4] (300 of them completely new) over about 850 pages with contributions from 187 people. David Williams inThe Guardian, wrote that the new edition "offer[s] a snapshot of the more significant changes in wine in the past nine years."[5]
Entries for individuals are limited by the strict criteria of "a long track record" and "global significance"; hence French worldwide consulting oenologistMichel Rolland and even former Soviet leaderMikhail Gorbachev have entries, while California oenologistHelen Turley is omitted.[2] Also, there is no entry for Jancis Robinson herself.
Eric Asimov ofThe New York Times has noted that with the wine world's increasing rate of evolution, "this encyclopedic work keeps pace with new information on issues like climate change, biodynamic viticulture and globalization, and emerging wine regions like Canada and eastern Europe."[6]
Having received several awards, including the André Simon Memorial Award and the Glenfiddich Award,[1] it has been described as "the most useful wine book ever published,"[2] and "the one essential book for any wine-lover".[6]The Strategist included the book in its list of the best wine books.[7]