The Wines of the Northern Rhone - Tapa dura

["A] magisterial and compelling tour de force of a passionate wine guide....a dip into the book at virtually any point is almost as satisfying as a visit."--"Decanter

For anyone who wants to understand the full story that lies within a glass of wine, this book opens up the inner secrets of the geology, the vineyards, the wines, and the growers of the northern Rhone Valley in France. Home to the spicy Syrah, or Shiraz, and the floral Viognier grapes, the northern Rhone Valley is one of France's oldest wine-growing regions; its appellations include Hermitage, Cote-Rotie, Condrieu, Crozes-Hermitage, St-Joseph, and Chateau-Grillet. With evocative descriptions and marvelous insights, this accessible, elegant book, the culmination of more than thirty years following the Rhone, is a comprehensive and authoritative survey of the various estates, winemakers, and their wines.Taking a deeper look at the northern Rhone than Livingstone-Learmonth's highly regarded previous volumes on the Rhone Valley, this revised and up-to-date edition covers more producers and includes more in-depth information on the various terroirs, the histories of the wines, and the methods for making the wines. Livingstone-Learmonth concentrates on letting the producers explain their outlook and methods and includes much local color. "The Wines of the Northern Rhone" includes: assessments of thousands of wines, with guide dates on when to drink and how long to age them; winemakers' views on what foods best accompany their wines; new vineyard maps for each appellation; detailed descriptions by growers discussing the effect of different soils on their wines; precise information on how each domaine makes its wines; and, new research on the historical links between Hermitage and Bordeaux.