Bookworms

Bordeaux/Burgundy - A Vintage Rivalry

By Jean-Robert Pitte
Published by Inbooks
RRP $39.95 ($NZ42.95)

If the winemakers and citizens of the Barossa and Hunter valleys, or of Hawke's Bay and Marlborough, translated their regional rivalry into the type of unharnessed enmity historically traded between Burgundy and Bordeaux they'd be guilty of conduct unbecoming.

In this illuminating, comprehensively researched and entertainingly written book, French geography professor Pitte explores the deeply ingrained cultural differences between the "peasants" of Burgundy and the chateaux-dwelling bourgeoisie to their west. He mines a rich vein of quotes from each side - some of them barbs so acidic they could cut through the fat on a cheap sausage. At the other extreme, anecdotes about such luminaries as the Bordelais gourmet and wine connoisseur Philippe de Rothschild and Philibert de Laguiche, his counterpart from Burgundy, show that amid the general rancour and disdain there was a streak of mutual common sense and appreciation of the other region's wine.

Pitte traces the history and culture of the regions, as well as the course of wine commerce from Roman times to the present. He presents a detailed description of the physical environments, the climate and viticultural practices ranging from the noble to the scurrilous, such as adulteration and faking of wine. He concludes that it's time "to bury the hatchet ... Bordeaux and Burgundy are different, just as brothers and sisters in a family are different".

To Cork or Not To Cork

By George M. Taber
Published by Simon & Schuster
RRP $29.95 

With the tide of synthetic, glass and screw-cap closures increasingly battering at the defences of the traditional cork industry, here's an absorbing book that puts the whole historical and scientific argument into perspective.

Taber, an American wine enthusiast and former journalist, has turned what on the surface may seem to be a dryish subject into a compelling and well-balanced read about the revolution that's turning four centuries of tradition on its head.

Subtitled Tradition, Romance, Science and the Battle for the Wine Bottle, this book covers every conceivable aspect of the history of cork (a substance which, curiously, is almost 90 per cent air), the dreaded TCA taint that continues to blight its reputation, and the various alternative closures that, with varying degrees of success, have destroyed its monopoly and threaten its very existence.

Taber chronicles the rise of the cork substitutes: from the first really practical success, the multi-coloured Supreme Corq, through the granulated/reconstituted Altec cork, to crown seals, Stelvin screw caps and Vino-Lok glass stoppers.

There's a strong Australian and New Zealand presence in this book. It details the Australian Wine Research Institute's ground-breaking trialling of a semillon bottled under 14 different closures and recounts the screw cap pioneering of, among others, the Clare Valley's Jeffrey Grosset and the Kiwi anti-cork rebels.

The Australian Wine Guide

By Clive Hartley
Published by Hospitality Books
RRP $49.95 

The author (Winestate's Wine Tutor columnist) leaves few stones unturned in this bigger and more pictorially lavish fourth edition of his guide, which is geographically more than the title suggests - Hartley also journeys across the Tasman to summarise the regions on each NZ island, then ventures further afield with brief forays into Europe, North and South America and South Africa.

The 270 large-format pages are packed with information and advice tailored as much for the novice wine drinker as the more knowledgable aficionado. The essentials of grapegrowing and production of various styles of wines are followed by a comprehensive section on tasting, incorporating the aroma wheel.

The biggest two sections - Wine Styles and Grape Varieties and Australian Wine Regions - are covered in impressive detail, with each featuring lists of Outstanding, Highly Recommended and Recommended wines/cellar doors for every varietal and region. However, it seemed rather odd to this reviewer that while the shiraz section's introduction extols the excellence of the iconic Grange (with label photo) and Hill of Grace, neither wine is included in the 71 outstanding or recommended shiraz wines, even though a couple of their less illustrious stablemates rate a mention. Perhaps these two weren't among the 3000 or so wines the author tasted for this edition. Still, that's a minor quibble about what overall is a quality publication.