The musician is also the owner of the vineyard Adega Do Cantor in the south of Portugal. From 1993 to 1997, he reworked them and planted new varieties, primarily Syrah and Aragones. And by the year 2000, the first crop had been planted, yielding the first wine.

For over 60 years, Sir Cliff has known and loved the Algarve. His plan to plant a vineyard on his property Quinta do Moinho provided the impetus for the Vida Nova winery. Sir Cliff is heavily involved in the winemaking process.
“When in Portugal, he is frequently seen in the winery and his vineyard, which includes Syrah, Aragonês, and two indigenous white varieties from Portugal, Antão Vaz and Arinto.”

The vineyard Adega Do Cantor is located at the top of the Quinta do Miradouro, with breathtaking views of the surrounding vineyards and coast line. In addition to wine production, the vineyard offers guided tours of the vineyards and winery, tutored tastings, and the opportunity to purchase both Vida Nova and Onda Nova wines, as well as a variety of merchandise, through their cellar door shop.

SALES AND TOURS
(+351) 968 776 971 / (+351) 289 572 666
visits@winesvidanova.com

CONTACTS
Adega do Cantor Sociedade de Vitivinicultura, Lda
Quinta Do Miradouro – Álamos
Apartado 5008 / 8200-443 GUIA ABF
Algarve – Portugal
(+315) 289 572 668
general@winesvidanova.com

So on this 14th day of October, wish Sir Cliff a happy birthday and many more happy days of great wine making ahead!

by Dorothy J Gaiter and John Brecher

Husband and wife wine journalist team, Dorothy Gaiter and John Brecher, may not be household names to the majority of American wine enthusiasts, but to hundreds of thousands of Wall Street Journal readers their Friday “Tastings” column is a must. The depleted shelves of so many wine retailers across the nation are testimony to their column’s influence. Now the couple bring much of their enthusiasm to their new hardback The Wall Street Journal Guide to Wine, published by Broadway Books.

The introduction quickly establishes their position with a very clear statement, “We’re writing for a frustrated majority: people who can afford more and better wine, who want to know more about wine and don’t know where to begin.””

The book is extremely readable but also an enigma. However can successful wine writers include a chapter on Muscadet and Vouvray from France as ‘Cheap White Wines with Class’ and yet not include any everyday Australian wines in their chapter on Chardonnay?

The book contains 30 chapters, generally written in a very easy no-nonsense style. The comment in the chapter on Champagne, with reference to Louis Roederer Cristal 1990, says it “looks more like Sprite than Champagne because it’s so pale.” This is either ignorance or honesty, most probably the latter. Perhaps it would have been kinder to explain that there is nothing wrong with Champagne having a pale lemon color but maybe at $145.99 you should expect something different.

The chapter on visiting wineries is full of good sense and practical advice. Reading it will make these occasions so much more satisfying for many and the chapter entitled “Decoding the Wine List – It’s Easier than It Looks” brings the best from their 25 years experience of sharing wine. They offer seven simple steps for “a kind of Gaiter / Brecher Secret Wine List Decoder Ring”. These include:

• Take your time.
• Decide if you want red or white.
• Does the restaurant specialize in a certain type of wine?
• Eliminate the showcase wines.
• Cross off the wines you already know.
• Decide what you’re willing to spend.
• Finally, out of the remainder pick two or three and ask the waiter’s advice.

It is a simple yet sensible strategy and will probably work 90% of the time. Give it a try and you’ll most likely find it a better method than any you had previously devised yourself. Most important you will also glean much information every time you put the plan into operation.

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by Daniele Cernilli & Marco Sabellico

This attractively illustrated volume, which includes regional maps, is far more than a coffee table book. The New Italy is a comprehensive guide to Italy and its winemaking today. The authors are two experienced Italian wine journalists who clearly have encyclopedic knowledge.

It begins with an untitled and beautifully balanced still life of various wine bottles and jugs to introduce ‘The Story of Italian Wine‘, followed by explanatory chapters on Italian wine production, label regulations and grape varieties. The co-authors then proceed to divide Italian wine production into 6 main areas: The Northwest, The Northeast, Adriatic Apennines, The Central Tyrrhenian, The Southern Peninsula and The Islands. Each of these is sub-divided into individual regions and then into chapters about specific denominations.

Thus the Northwest embraces Valle d’Aosta, Piedmont, Lombardy and Liguria, whilst Piedmont, for example, contains separate chapters on Barbaresco, Barolo, Alba and Roero, Asti and Barbera d’Asti, Monferrato and Gavi, Novara and the Vercelli Hills. At this point, with 5 further sections and 50 further chapters to come, the realisation dawns of how little we know about Italian wine. There is a distinct need for such a book and it will become a useful and maybe important reference work in many a wine library, whether belonging to organisations or individuals.

With such extensive and comprehensive subject matter just how does a wine journalist assess this book? The answer is to look at the areas that cover the Italian wines of which one has some personal experience, which is the method I followed. As it is no secret that Wine on the Web is a fan of the Gavi wines from La Scolca, I turned to page 53 and – hey presto – soon found it described in particularly praiseworthy terms! So what about Frescobaldi’s Nipozzano, which I have visited as a journalist and which has a reputation as a most consistent Chianti Rufina estate? On page 22 it appears with a positive reference to its aging potential. Next, a change of direction South to Marsala, where Florio and Pellegrino excel and they were also found amongst 5 favorable mentions. Throughout the book ‘notable producers’ are listed in every region.

Frankly, The New Italy has so much content it is difficult to give a really accurate review. The truth will emerge over the coming years as each Italian wine sample is tasted and the search for its identity begins. I know that I will be referring to it over and over again, as will many others.

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Among the French wine regions, the Languedoc-Roussillon offers the highest density of cooperative cellars. For hundreds of years the winemakers came together to overcome the domination of trading and equip their productions to improve winemaking performance. Published on the initiative of the Regional Council, this book paints a picture of that wine making heritage that is the soul of this region of France.

Several members of the General Inventory of Cultural Heritage have contributed to this impressive work. The book Caves: Cooperatives in Languedoc Roussillon presents these cooperatives under four main headings: the architecture of buildings, facades or ornamental decoration around, the interior and functionality, winemaking techniques and equipment. In addition, a small chapter presents the cooperative distilleries of the Herault.

The book is illustrated with numerous high-quality photographs. The text is particularly rich. This book is obviously the result of a long and meticulous research. Any fan of history should enjoy this exhaustive study of the Languedoc-Roussillon and its heritage — both wine scholars and amateur wine enthusiasts alike.

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A delight to the senses in every way, the lavishly illustrated In Tuscany is a celebration of life in this enchanting region of Italy. Here are photos to please the eye, recipes to tempt the taste buds, but above all the prose of Frances Mayes and her poet husband, Ed; full of a vital and refreshing immediacy which never fails to capture the quintessence of this historic country. Whether it is a meal with friends, gathering olives or simply regarding the landscape, Mayes’ deft touch communicates effortlessly what she describes as “the turn of slow days in an ancient place”.

Following the highly successful “Under the Tuscan Sun” and “Bella Tuscany”, which told the story of the Mayes’ lovingly restored Italian home – Bramisole, this new book comes in 5 distinct sections. Each one covers a different aspect of Italian life: the Piazza, the focus of social interaction; la Festa, the yearly round of festivals, celebrations and saints’ days; il Campo, the fields; la Cucina, the kitchen; and la Bellezza, the beauty of the light, the countryside and the people. Throughout the book, photos of sweeping landscapes, rustic elegance and captivating faces are interspersed with personal experiences and reflections, plus, of course, drool-worthy recipes such as Silvia’s Torta di Ricotta and Wild Boar Stew. For myself, I am definitely going to attempt Riccardo Barrachi’s Limoncello, a disarmingly easy DIY Lemon Liqueur.

In Tuscany is not a wine book, although wine is an integral part of Tuscan life and references to it are impossible to omit; there are mentions of Avignonesi Vineyards, Vino Nobile and that delectation for desserts, vin santo. But this charming stroll through a much-loved region is a book to linger over and savor, and as such it is sure to find a place in the hearts of aficionados of the Italian way of life everywhere.

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Title: Grapes and Wines
Authors: Oz Clarke and Margaret Rand
ISBN: 0316857262
Publisher: Little, Brown

This book is a great find: it offers a fresh and fascinating approach to educating and informing about wine. With so many other books on the subject, that’s no small feat. Oz Clarke and Margaret Rand’s focus – the beginning, end and middle of their story – is the grape. Luxuriating over 320 full-color pages in this definitive work, the world of wine is explored from wine making to cellaring, and from recommended producers to food-matching, but all centered around the raw material of wine.

After brief but comprehensive chapters on vine history, geography, viticulture and winemaking, the bulk of the book consists of an exhaustive A-Z of grapes, from Abouriou to Zinfandel. For all major grapes there is extensive technical information, as well as world overviews and advice on tasting, style and longevity. Clarke’s easy yet authoritative style works well, and the length of entries is well judged, from a few paragraphs on chorus-line varieties, to a dozen pages on major stars like Cabernet Sauvignon.

Conclusions: Though a book like Jancis Robinson’s factual, pocket-sized Guide to Wine Grapes is a terrifically authoritative reference, this book — Grapes and Wines — uses the grape as the springboard to launch into a beautifully illustrated and lively in-depth view of varietal-centred winemaking of the 21st Century, with constant cross-referencing back to the Old World roots and classic wines.

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Enrico Bernardo became World’s Best Sommelier in 2004 to 27 years. In writing this book, he wanted us to convey his passion for wine and some of his truly extensive knowledge on the subject. In this context, the book is divided into two main parts: one on the art of wine tasting and a second where he reviews the great vineyards of the world.

Enrico Bernardo’s approach to tasting is particularly methodical and orderly, as is evidenced by the long chapter on visual inspection, which opens the book. This first phase of wine tasting is so finely detailed, and one that many amateurs tend to overlook.

The same thoroughness is reflected in the following phases of tasting, nose and mouth, where all the parameters involved are discussed in great detail, sometimes by grape varietal. His love of wine, however, is clearly visible when he allows himself more personal remarks on his passions for wine.

In the second half of the book, Enrico takes us around the world to some of the finest vineyards. In each region, he details one to three representative wines. Often, Enrico Bernardo selects wines that may be out of reach (financially) for the average amateur and this might decrease the value of these reviews in the eyes of some. However, we see this more as an elegant depiction of his desire to better reflect the full potential of the vintages he presents.

The book ends with a series of tips on serving and storing wine, about twenty pages on topics ranging from associations to the shape of the glass food and wine.

This book is geared toward those wine aficionados who are well-versed in the art of wine. No doubt they will find the World’s Best Sommelier’s approach to Savoir goûter le vin (Knowing how to taste wine) to be quite thorough and enjoyable.

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In the literature of wine tasting, the book most often cited as a reference is unquestionably “The Taste of Wine” by Emile Peynaud (available from the same publisher).

The publisher has released a consumer version, accessible mainly in terms of price, and the reader quickly understands why the book is so often described as a must-have book for those who truly love wine.

The emphasis is on the sensory approach to tasting. More detail than any technique, the authors put us in a condition that we can move forward. As such, the title of the chapter “Difficulties of tasting and mistakes of the senses” speaks for itself.

This is probably not the ideal book as the first book for a wine neophyte, as it delves into the physiology of the senses, the role of memory, and analysis and training.

The book also covers wine tasting pitfalls, illusions, tricks and techniques. You’ll learn how to determine and define wine quality and value in wine. You’ll acquire practical guidance on wine vocabulary, statistical interpretations, and tasting tools. This book is an essential part of the library for all wine professionals and serious wine lovers.

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Author Jacques Puisais is well known to lovers of gastronomy and wines, winemaker, apostle of “taste just” love of men and the land, avid educator, he founded the Institute of Taste in the 1970s to promote emergent the notion of taste in young children. His book Initiation into the Art of Wine Tasting is a classic.

Denis Hervier knows him well and he has shaped for us this primer, drawn directly from the source. It looks like a small booklet in which we can forage on which we can come back regularly. For, needless to say well, it is not in any of a list of technical terms. No, the purpose here is more general: it is no longer here to guide us, give us ways to better taste and enjoy wine and gastronomy, we encourage them to adopt a certain approach to the pleasures of the palate.

While most entries relate concepts therefore quite general, some relate to people who have shaped the world of wine. “Ruin: Swallowing without tasting is the ruin of the palace.” Some entries are thus very short, others reach a dozen or so lines.

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Subtitled “50 Years of Tasting the World’s Finest Wines”, this new book immediately soars to the top of my wine-lover’s Chrsitmas present list. The irrepressible Michael Broadbent shows no sign of slowing down merely because he is in his 76th year: he is still a Director of Christie’s wine auctions, still travels incessantly around the world to taste the finest wines, and still communtes across London by bicycle. This book is a wonderful guide to 50-years worth of fine wine, region by region, wine by wine, but it is also warm and human, with a delightful anecdotes and wine wisdom sprinkled throughout.

Broadbent is arguably the world’s greatest living expert on fine and rare wines, and make no mistake; this is a serious and comprehensive tome with thousand upon thousand of reviews from this most educated palate. Who else would – or could – include a dozen full tasting notes for clarets of 1899! This is just a wonderful journey through a lifetime of tasting, and presents a delightful counterpoint to Robert Parker’s Wine Buyer’s Guide, the new edition of which has also just been published. Broadbent presents a charmingly old-school assessment, where wines are rated and judged on levels of structure and charm, each in the context of when they were tasted, and with whom.

Conclusions: This is truly a “must have” wine book. Only the very top New World wines are covered in a couple of dozen pages, otherwise this is a celebration of Europe’s classic regions, but in what amazing depth. It is as charming as it is useful, and joins the firmament of reference works that no wine-lover can afford to be without.

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