This isn’t exclusive to The Wine Bible as every wine reference older than two decades seems to be carrying this forward from an era when German wines were more noteworthy on the international wine stage than nowadays to justify more page space than say, Italy or Spain.īut the one thing that really, really stood out is that this book truly is a full revision. But Germany, for some inexplicable reason, manages to hold on to its 40 pages. Greece and South Africa remain shorted however and deserve far more space than given. There have been a number of regions/countries upgraded in this new edition such as: Jura & Savoie, Sicily, Croatia, Ribeira Sacra, Valdeorras, and a few others. Due to that, I rarely found myself taking it off the shelf. The overall dimensions are friendlier as well given that the 2nd Edition (which I also own) is actually very uncomfortable to flip through being tall, heavy, and with thin paper. But in addition to the color upgrade, the book has been condensed (somehow), coming in at 200 pages less in length which seems to be possible due to tighter type spacing and a reorganization of information. In fact it’s the main problem I have with a certain wine book publisher. Now, in 2022, I’ve had a chance to preview the 3rd Edition that’s being released in mid-October and it’s a definite upgrade from the previous edition.įirst off, and I can’t emphasize this enough, it’s in color! While black and white is cheaper to get out, wine books really need color or they just come up short. The 2nd Edition took a bit more time and arrived in 2015. I would add that Elizabeth Schneider’s “ Wine for Normal People” is a very decent option as well, but in need of a reworked second edition.ĭespite The Wine Bible’s rather formidable title, it’s a very friendly reference and Macneil has honed it over the years since the first edition appeared way back in 2000. The first is Jancis Robinson’s “ 24-Hour Wine Expert” for those looking to take a quick dip into the wine world, followed by Karen Macneil’s “ The Wine Bible“.

When asked about what book one should read to start digging into wine, there are always two that immediately come to mind for me.

The wine bible 2nd edition