Published in 1994 to worldwide acclaim, the first edition of Jancis Robinson's seminal volume immediately attained legendary status, winning every major wine book award including the Glenfiddich and Julia Child/IACP awards, as well as writer and woman of the year accolades for its editor on both sides of the Atlantic. Combining meticulously-researched fact with refreshing opinion and wit, The Oxford Companion to Wine offers almost 4,000 entries on every wine-related topic imaginable, from regions and grape varieties to the owners, connoisseurs, growers, and tasters in wine through the ages; from viticulture and oenology to the history of wine. Tracing the consumption and production from the ancient world to the present day, the Companion is a remarkable resource for gaining further appreciation for a beverage whose popularity has only increased with time.

Now exhaustively updated, this third edition incorporates the very latest international research to present over 400 new entries on topics ranging from globalization and the politics of wine to brands, precision viticulture, and co-fermentation. Hundreds of other entries have also undergone major revisions, including yeast, barrel alternatives, climate change, and virtually all wine regions. Useful lists and statistics are appended, including controlled appellations and their permitted grape varieties, as well as wine production and consumption by country.

Illustrated with maps of every important wine region in the world, useful charts and diagrams, and stunning color photography, this Companion is unlike any other wine book, offering an understanding of wine in its many wider contexts - notably historical, cultural, geographic, and scientific - and serving as a truly companionable point of reference into which any wine-lover can dip, browse, and linger.

"Without question the most useful wine book ever published." --Mike Steinberger, Slate.com

"Serious wine geeks know that 'the bible' for the past decade or so has been Jancis Robinson's The Oxford Companion To Wine. The third edition...is impeccably researched and full of well-known facts as well as interesting trivia."--Wine Enthusiast.

"This is a must-have book for wine geeks...highly recommended for anyone with more than a passing interest in wine."--Wine Spectator, "Top 100" issue.

"It's hard to come up with a wine question that you won't find answered here... My advice is simple. Buy it. Now. You'll be glad you did."--Wineloverspage.com.

"An invaluable resource for serious wine drinkers who never quench their thirst for learning about varietals, appellations, wine history, and vineyards."--Business Week.

"It's as addictive as the Internet."--Tara Q. Thomas, WineandSpirits.

"The third edition of The Oxford Companion to Wine, edited by Jancis Robinson, is the one essential book for any wine-lover... the book is a necessity for those in the wine business, and it offers highly pleasurable browsing for anybody who is remotely curious about why wine is so compelling."--Eric Asimov, The New York Times

"It's a valuable reference book and great fun just to pick up and read."--Ben Giliberti, The Washington Post

"Unquestionably the world's most comprehensive wine resource... Best of all, this isn't a dry encyclopedia... employs a witty insider's tone."--TownandCountry

Named one of "20 Essential Books to Build Your Culinary Library" by the James Beard Foundation

A Financial Times 2006 "Pick of the Year".

"This is an invaluable resource for serious wine drinkers who never quench their thirst for learning about varietals, appellations, wine history, and vineyards."--Business Week

"The greatest wine book ever published.... A worthy purchase even for those who already own its predecessor."--Michael Franz, The Washington Post

"An encyclopedic reference.... If it's not here, it has nothing to do with wine."--Wine and Spirits

"A wine lover's best friend."--La Cucina Italiana

"The preeminent basic resource for wine lovers.... It is hard to believe that editor Jancis Robinson could improve upon a work whose first edition was so universally lauded, but indeed she has."--Wine Enthusiast

Reviews of the first edition:

"A required reference for anyone who is serious about wine."--Frank J. Prial, The New York Times

"Jancis Robinson has become the Julia Child of wine."--Newsday

"One of the definitive reference books on the subject."--Anthony Dias Blue

"Easily the most complete compendium of wine knowledge assembled in modern times.... Essential to even the smallest library of wine books."--The New York Times

"This may be the most important book on wine to appear in the past 20 years....The very existence of this book stands as evidence of the significance of wine in our culture.... This volume will enhance the usefulness of every other wine book by providing authoritative explanations of the nuts and bolts that others treat only in passing."--The Washington Post

Hailed by Frank J. Prial in The New York Times as "a required reference for anyone who is serious about wine," and by Anthony Dias Blue as "one of the definitive reference books on the subject," The Oxford Companion to Wine won every major wine book award, including the Julia Child and the James Beard awards. Now, Jancis Robinson has completely revised this masterpiece, adding over 500 new entries and thoroughly updating most of the rest.

Lavishly illustrated, with over 200 black and white pictures, 31 full color plates, and 31 maps of every wine region in the world, the Companion is the only wine volume to combine science, history, geography, wine varieties, social and cultural information, and much more. Ranging from Abruzzi and armagnac to Zimbabwe and Zinfandel, from Dionysian revels in ancient Greece to today's leading wine research centers, its 3,400 alphabetically arranged entries explore all aspects of wine, including the latest advances in viticulture and enology. There are in-depth discussions of the climates and grape varieties of great wine regions of the world, and numerous biographies ranging from Dom Perignon to Robert Parker. The book discusses vintner's terms, business and legal aspects, and related topics such as distilled and fortified wines. All technical terms are fully explained, and the hundreds of useful drawings and photographs illustrate key processes. New features include a complete guide to geographical names, a vintage chart, an overview of recent wine prices and investment, and a navigation chart to the Companion.

The ultimate reference on wine and wine-making, The Oxford Companion to Wine is the perfect volume to enhance a lifetime's enjoyment of this intoxicating topic.

Combining meticulously-researched fact with refreshing opinion and wit, this guide offers almost 4,000 entries on every wine-related topic imaginable.

Jancis Robinson is one of the world's leading authorities on wine, voted the Wine Writer's Wine Writer by her peers and dubbed "the undisputed mistress of the kingdom of wines" by Frances Madame Figaro. In 1995, she won the Wine Literary Award of the Wine Appreciation Guild, in part for her work on The Oxford Companion to Wine. She lives in the United Kingdom.