The Sotheby’s Wine Encyclopedia

Sotheby's Wine Encyclopedia is a reference work written by Tom Stevenson and published since 1988 by Dorling Kindersley, selling over 600,000 copies in 14 languages.Sotheby’s Wine Encyclopedia, 2007 Edition, Inside flap] The general consensus is that together with "The Oxford Companion to Wine" and "The World Atlas of Wine", this encyclopedia is one of the three or four most notable, continuously available books on wine today. Tim Atkin MW, Wine Correspondent for "The Observer" considers it to be one of the two most essential wine reference books in English.Cite web|last= Atkin|first= Tim, "The Observer" |title= The word on the vine |url= http://books.guardian.co.uk/booksoftheyear2005/story/0,,1664354,00.html |date= December 11, 2005 ]

"Sotheby’s Wine Encyclopedia" claims to map and describe "every appellation, official and unofficial", ["Sotheby’s Wine Encyclopedia", 2005 and 2007 Editions, Back cover] of which there were more than 4,000 in total by 1997,"Sotheby’s Wine Encyclopedia", 1997 Edition, Back cover: 4,000 Appellations] making it an industry standard wine reference and required reading for the Master of Wine, Master Sommelier and Cape Wine Master examinations. The hard data, technical information, tables and ancillary explanations are compartmentalized from the flow of mainstream text, with star-rated profiles of nearly 2,000 wineries, and recommendation of more than 6,000 producers. ["Sotheby’s Wine Encyclopedia", 2005 and 2007 Editions, Introduction] the recommendation of a considerably larger number of specific wines, also makes this a practical wine guide that appeals to a broad spectrum of wine drinkers, from the novice to expert.cite web|last= Goode |first= Jamie, wineanorak.com |title= Reference works |url= http://www.wineanorak.com/refb.htm ]

First published as ‘‘Sotheby’s World Wine Encyclopedia’’ in 1988, [ISBN 0863182380 (UK), ISBN 0821216902 (USA)] it has been reprinted in the UK and USA in 1988 (a second impression in UK only), 1989 (a third impression in UK only), 1991 (revised), [ISBN 086318653X (UK & USA)] 1994 (paperback), [ISBN 0751301558 (UK & USA)] 1995, 1996, 1997 (major revise as The New ‘‘Sotheby’s Wine Encyclopedia’’), [ISBN 0751303135 (UK), ISBN 0789420791 (USA)] 1998 (UK two reprints, US one reprint),, [ISBN 0751303135 (UK), ISBN 0789420791 (USA)] 1999 (UK three reprints and one Millennium edition, USA one reprint and one Millennium edition), 2000, 2001 (minor revise), [ISBN 0751327778 (UK), ISBN 0789480395 (USA)] 2002 (USA only, two reprints), 2003 (UK and USA two reprints), 2004 (US only), 2005 (major revise as ‘‘Sotheby’s Wine Encyclopedia’’, its current title), [ISBN 0751337404 (UK), ISBN 0756613248 and ISBN 1405397373 (USA)] 2007 (minor revise). [ISBN 1405326565 (UK), ISBN 0756631645 (USA)] Most of the foreign-language editions have also gone through several editions and revision.

The largest revision of this work was published in 1997, when it increased in size from 480 to 600 pages. ["Sotheby’s Wine Encyclopedia", 1997 Edition] The increase in pagination for the 2005 revision was of a smaller order physically, rising from 600 to 664 pages, but in terms of additional text it was significantly larger than this, as Stevenson dropped the lengthy 7-page “Sotheby’s Introduction” and 24 pages of “Author’s Choice” (both of which had been introduced in the 1997 edition) to add 95 pages of new material. ["Sotheby’s Wine Encyclopedia", 2005 Edition] The 2005 revision contained a record number of upgradings to winery star-ratings, and for the first time incorporated symbols to identify wineries that are organic or biodynamic. The revisions in 2001 and 2007 involved a large amount of updating, but no expansion. ["Sotheby’s Wine Encyclopedia", 2001 Edition] ["Sotheby’s Wine Encyclopedia", 2007 Edition] These minor revisions also took in additional subjects (primarily new appellations, additional recommended wineries and wines), but with no expansion in the pagination, this was achieved by deleting existing text (mostly those wineries and wines that were no longer recommended). ["Sotheby’s Wine Encyclopedia", 2001 Edition] ["Sotheby’s Wine Encyclopedia", 2007 Edition] By comparison, the 1991 revision was a very minor one indeed. ["Sotheby’s Wine Encyclopedia", 1991 Edition]

ISBN 978-1899791897

References