THE WINES AND VINEYARDS OF FRANCE

An impressive sourcebook for the serious devotee of the fruit of the vine which in its direct approach to comprehensive coverage neither caters to nor excludes the less versed reader who is willing to learn of the oeniological art. More complete than The Wine Country of France by Edward Hyams (p. 656, 1960) less oriented to the reader in the middle stage of sophistication than Creighton Churchill's A Notebook for the Wines of France (p. 830, 1961), this is a devoted, uncompromising offering of information that is literally down-to-earth. The authors cite the origins of wine, its elements, then press forward to the French vineyards, noting location, soil and climate, vineyards within the district, growths, official classifications (the color and minimum alcoholic degrees required by law), recommended and authorized varieties, a vintage guide from earliest record through 1961. The rating of growths for the Bordeaux red wine, for example, is from 1798. Wine measures and labels are remarked upon, and the actual use of wine treated with the same brisk but authoritative competence that marks the rest of the book: dishes which should be outlawed with any wine, whatever color, are as much a concern as dishes matched to light or full-bodied red, or dry, semi-sweet or lucious white. The major appeal of this book lies in the fact that it caters only to the best interests of the wine itself -- a fact which will be appreciated by those who have been dissatisfied with the many popularizing books on the subject.