South-West France - The Wines and Winemakers (Hardcover)

Paul Strang has been dubbed by a wine-writing colleague 'the man who knows every centimetre of the South-West', not surprising when you know that he first bought a house in the area in 1961. His new book charts the history of the vineyards of the South-West and their recovery following their virtual destruction by the phylloxera plague 130 years ago. He covers in detail all 18 of the present-day AOCs and AOVDQS, as well as 22 Vins de Pays. He covers terrain stretching from the Massif Central to the Pyrenees, from the Atlantic Ocean to the boundaries with Languedoc. This is a book about wines of individual character and the fascinating men and women who have made them. Paul has visited over 250 growers, and gives a full account of each. He tells you about their background, their vineyards and the wines they are making today. He tells you why he likes their wines, and sometimes why he doesn't. He identifies the widely differing character of each area. Maps for each chapter pinpoint their location, and there are up-to-the-minute telephone numbers and, where available, email and mobile phone details. A simple star system based on 0 to 3 gives a personal rating of all the wines he has tasted. These may range from good everyday drinking wines at 4 euros a bottle or less, to wines which sell for as much as the leading growths of Bordeaux and Burgundy; Paul gives you an idea of the prices you can expect to pay everywhere you go.