The Wines of Burgundy: Revised Edition
by Clive Coates M.W.
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Book Summary Information
Author: Clive Coates M.W.Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-05-12
ISBN: 0520250508
Number of pages: 896
Publisher: University of California Press
Book Reviews of The Wines of Burgundy: Revised Edition
Book Review: New... but is it improved?
Summary: 3 Stars
If you go back and look at the reviews for the first edition of this book, "Cote d'Or," you will see I could not heap enough praise on it. I awaited this revision to see a compendium of Mr. Coates' tasting notes for the years beyond 1996, where the original volume dropped off. A lot has happened in Burgundy in a decade, and I expected to see Clive's typically insightful comments on the new wave of young winemakers, the effect of global warming, the continued move toward organic and biodynamic methods, the move away from exaggerated use of new oak and so on. And I really wanted to see which domaines might find their way for the first time into the extended section of detailed domaine profiles; what new tidbits of news would be included about the old standbys, and whether any would be pulled because Mr. Coates believes they have lost their touch.
Well, the first book was a tough act to follow, and I'm not yet convinced this one lives up to its promise. I may get more comfortable with the new version with time, but I think the decision to abandon the detailed profiles of key domaines that took up about 350 pages of the first edition was not merely bad judgment, but a fatal error.
The introductory section was and remains a nice, succinct overview. The section on Chablis seems quite perfunctory. Biss & Smith's "Wines of Chablis" (Writers International 2000) has more to offer, albeit it is not as up to date. The section on the Cote Chalonnaise is short but seems quite useful, and I know of no single volume in English devoted to it that would compete.
But all in all, it seems the Lord taketh more than he giveth back in this revision.
One more quibble -- the tasting notes swallow up most of the volume, not because new vintages are added, but because they are now in a large type version. Being ten years on since the first edition myself, perhaps I should appreciate this. But it strikes me as padding. Had the notes in this book been done up in the original typeface, the new book would be perhaps 600 pages long, I'd guess, or about 250 pages shorter than the original. and at that, there would be plenty of room for the extended profiles of the great domaines. So why was this done? I'll state the cynical view here... it would have required a very considerable effort to update the original domaine profiles, so rather than attempt that daunting task, they were simply yanked.
All in all, it seems to me the book adds a tiny bit by reaching out beyond the Cote d'Or, but takes away a great deal by eliminating the fascinating domaine profiles that were the heart and soul of the original volume.
Don't get me wrong, it's still a very good book. But for my high expectations, based on the original, perhaps I would be raving about it here. But grading in context -- as Clive Coates would be the first to advocate -- it doesn't sing "grand cru."
I think I will find myself going back to the ten year old "Cote d'Or" more often than I will turn to this one.
Summary of The Wines of Burgundy: Revised Edition
Ten years after the publication of the highly acclaimed, award-winning Côte D'Or: A Celebration of the Great Wines of Burgundy, the "Bible of Burgundy," Clive Coates now offers this thoroughly revised and updated sequel. This long-awaited work details all the major vintages from 2006 back to 1959 and includes thousands of recent tasting notes of the top wines. All-new chapters on Chablis and Côte Chalonnaise replace the previous volume's domaine profiles. Coates, a Master of Wine who has spent much of the last thirty years in Burgundy, considers it to be the most exciting, complex, and intractable wine region in the world, and the one most likely to yield fine wines of elegance and finesse. This book is an indispensable guide for amateur and professional alike by one of the world's leading wine experts, writing with his habitual expertise, lucidity, and unequaled firsthand knowledge.Spirits Books
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