The World Atlas of Wine
Encyclopedia
The World Atlas of Wine by Hugh Johnson and (since 2003) Jancis Robinson
, MW
, is an atlas
and reference work on the world of wine
, published by Mitchell Beazley
. It pioneered the use of wine-specific cartography
to give wine a sense of place, and has since the first edition published in 1971 sold 4 million copies in 14 languages. Considered among the most significant wine publications to date, and it remains one of the most popular books on wine, with the most recent sixth edition published in October 2007.
Until the World War II
, wine was the preserve of the upper classes in western Europe, and virtually non-existent in the U.S. due to Prohibition, but servicemen returning home from the European theatre brought with them the newly acquired habit of wine drinking. With the emergence of mass tourism in the 1950s and the greater spending power of the 1960s, a whole new generation visited France, Italy and Spain, bringing back the continental culture of wine.
America's taste for wine also began to develop in the early 1960s. The majority of these new wine drinkers were young, well-traveled, and relatively affluent and, as the Baby Boom
generation came of age, so the ranks of wine drinkers increased. Never before, and never since, have there been so many new wine consumers without any knowledge of the wines they were encountering, and in 1971 The World Atlas of Wine was uniquely placed to satisfy that demand. With mass tourism on the increase throughout the 1970s, the demand for The World Atlas of Wine continued to grow, as there was no real competition until 1988, when The Sotheby's World Wine Encyclopedia (now The Sotheby's Wine Encyclopedia) was published.
The Institut National des Appellations d'Origine
, a French governmental organisation that avoids comment on commercial ventures, was moved to describe The World Atlas of Wine upon publication as "a major landmark in the literature of wine".
Jancis Robinson
Jancis Mary Robinson OBE, MW is a British wine critic, journalist and editor of wine literature. She currently writes a weekly column for the Financial Times, and writes for her website jancisrobinson.com...
, MW
Master of Wine
Master of Wine is a qualification issued by The Institute of Masters of Wine in the United Kingdom...
, is an atlas
Atlas
An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a map of Earth or a region of Earth, but there are atlases of the other planets in the Solar System. Atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today many atlases are in multimedia formats...
and reference work on the world of wine
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
, published by Mitchell Beazley
Mitchell Beazley
Mitchell Beazley Publishers Limited is a British book publisher which is particularly specialised in atlasas, reference books, natural history books, cook books, garden books, and wine books.-History:...
. It pioneered the use of wine-specific cartography
Cartography
Cartography is the study and practice of making maps. Combining science, aesthetics, and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality can be modeled in ways that communicate spatial information effectively.The fundamental problems of traditional cartography are to:*Set the map's...
to give wine a sense of place, and has since the first edition published in 1971 sold 4 million copies in 14 languages. Considered among the most significant wine publications to date, and it remains one of the most popular books on wine, with the most recent sixth edition published in October 2007.
Origin
Prior to its publication in 1971, no work of wine literature contained high quality, wine-specific cartography. Some single-subject wine literature contained simple line-drawn maps, but not detailed, colour cartography with precise boundaries, and no book attempting to cover the world of wine had maps for every country. It was therefore not possible to open a bottle, open a book, and see precisely where the wine came from. This sense of place for wine is taken for granted today, but in 1971 it was revolutionary, and Johnson’s timing was impeccable.Until the World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, wine was the preserve of the upper classes in western Europe, and virtually non-existent in the U.S. due to Prohibition, but servicemen returning home from the European theatre brought with them the newly acquired habit of wine drinking. With the emergence of mass tourism in the 1950s and the greater spending power of the 1960s, a whole new generation visited France, Italy and Spain, bringing back the continental culture of wine.
America's taste for wine also began to develop in the early 1960s. The majority of these new wine drinkers were young, well-traveled, and relatively affluent and, as the Baby Boom
Baby boom
A baby boom is any period marked by a greatly increased birth rate. This demographic phenomenon is usually ascribed within certain geographical bounds and when the number of annual births exceeds 2 per 100 women...
generation came of age, so the ranks of wine drinkers increased. Never before, and never since, have there been so many new wine consumers without any knowledge of the wines they were encountering, and in 1971 The World Atlas of Wine was uniquely placed to satisfy that demand. With mass tourism on the increase throughout the 1970s, the demand for The World Atlas of Wine continued to grow, as there was no real competition until 1988, when The Sotheby's World Wine Encyclopedia (now The Sotheby's Wine Encyclopedia) was published.
The Institut National des Appellations d'Origine
Institut National des Appellations d'Origine
The Institut National des Appellations d'Origine is the French organization charged with regulating French agricultural products with Protected Designations of Origin . Controlled by the French government, it forms part of the Ministry of Agriculture...
, a French governmental organisation that avoids comment on commercial ventures, was moved to describe The World Atlas of Wine upon publication as "a major landmark in the literature of wine".
Editions
- First edition was printed in 1971
- Second in 1977
- Third in 1985
- Fourth in 1994
- Fifth in 2001
- Sixth in 2007