Book Review: Hugh Johnson’s Pocket Wine Book 2024

By Rob Theakston | August 27, 2023 |

Unless you, gentle reader, are wearing workman’s overalls or carrying a bag or purse, fitting Hugh Johnson’s Pocket Wine Book anywhere on your person is a mildly amusing notion.

Now in its 47th year of publication, this guide is incredibly comprehensive, checking in at over 300 pages. It is dense and immense with information on over 5,000 growers in every conceivable country, region, and sub-region worldwide. This sets up a paradox for reference guides of this stature: too little information frustrates those seeking in-depth coverage, while too much information risks alienating novices with analysis paralysis. Deciphering the iconography, keys, and infographics found throughout the guide requires time and patience, so beginners need to settle in to figure out how to use this guide to its maximum potential. However, working with the guide on its terms will open a rich gateway of information that can quickly convert into wine wisdom.

A- / $18 / [BUY IT NOW AT AMAZON]