The story of champagne
The story of champagne
By: Nicholas Faith
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Table of Contents
The new edition of Nicholas Faith’s landmark The story of champagne is written from the wine-makers’ point of view. This masterpiece of story-telling and analysis that has for decades excited readers about the different types of champagne and the landscape, geology and climate that inspire them also contains an up-to-date evaluation of wines.
Title information
It is extraordinary enough that only one small area in north eastern France, on the northern edge of Europe’s wine-growing regions, should be capable of producing the finest sparkling wine in the world, one of the few worth discussing as wine and not merely as a sparkling beverage. Yet champagne fascinates not only wine lovers, but also historians – social, economic, political – linguists, physiologists, physicists and chemists.
The long-awaited new edition of Nicholas Faith’s landmark The story of champagne tells the story of champagne from the wine-makers’ point of view. This classic study of the world’s greatest wine is a masterpiece of storytelling and analysis that has for decades sent readers away with renewed excitement about the different types of champagne and the landscape, geology and climate that inspire them.
Organized in four sections The story of champagne examines the history of champagne from its origins in the seventeenth century to the hi-tech industry of the twenty-first before examining the wine itself, how it is made, the crus, the vines and the harvest. The third section provides completely up-to-date statistics on wine production and consumption and Faith finishes off with an all-important and completely up-to-date evaluation of wines by their makers.
Nicholas Faith
Nicholas Faith was renowned for the books and hundreds of articles he wrote on wines and spirits over a varied and long-lasting career. His first book, The Winemasters, won the André Simon award. He also edited the prestigious magazine L’Amateur de Bordeaux. Founder of the International Spirits Challenge, the world’s leading alcoholic spirits competition, Nicholas Faith became in September 2010 the first recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award given by the Bureau National Interprofessional de Cognac.
Review of The story of champagne
"Wholly informative…pulls away some of the fabric of myth surrounding Champagne."
--Wine and Spirit
"Admirably detailed."
--Sunday Times
"There have been a number of previous books on [champagne] but none so thorough, so sound or so penetrative; it is undoubtedly Faith’s finest work."
--John Arlott, Guardian
"A delight to read."
--Decanter
"The best short book on champagne."
--Sunday Telegraph
"No nonsense, myth unravelling and entertaining."
--Daily Telegraph
France produces some of the best wines in the world, and this collection contains three French gems. The secret to the consistently excellent wines of the Faugères wine appellation lies in its unique terroir. In The wines of Faugères, Rosemary George MW provides a comprehensive guide to the wines of this remarkably compact and homogeneous area. The Côte d’Or may also be small in size but its influence is huge and its reputation awe-inspiring. Raymond Blake’s companionable Côte d’Or: The wines and winemakers of the heart of Burgundy demystifies a notoriously complicated region, explaining succinctly the history of winemaking, the complexity of the subdivided vineyards and the special role played by geology and climate in the creation of these wines. And who can resist champagne? Nicholas Faith’s classic study of the world’s greatest wine, The story of Champagne, is a masterpiece of storytelling and analysis that kindles excitement about the different types of champagne and the landscape, geology and climate that inspire them.