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Author: Hugh Johnson
Creator: Andy Katz
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Category: Book

List Price: ~~$19.95~~
Buy New: $6.28
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Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

2 reviews
Sales Rank: 759728

Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 144
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 9.4 x 8.6 x 0.6

ISBN: 0811851230
Dewey Decimal Number: 914
EAN: 9780811851237
ASIN: 0811851230

Publication Date: September 29, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Condition: New - Has remainder mark. Fast shipping from trusted wholesaler with many exclusive publisher contracts.

Also Available In:

•	Hardcover - Hugh Johnson's Tuscany and Its Wine
•	Hardcover - Tuscany and Its Wines
•	Hardcover - Tuscany and Its Wines
•	Paperback - Tuscany and Its Wines
•	Hardcover - Hugh Johnson's Tuscany and Its Wine
•	Hardcover - Tuscany and Its Wines

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Editorial Reviews:

Amazon.com Review
It's a land in which "vineyard management" used to mean allowing the grapevines to wrap themselves up to the full height of elm and poplar trees. With Tuscany and Its Wines, prolific British wine author Hugh Johnson and peripatetic photographer Andy Katz bring this land of Chianti to a coffee table near you. More than three decades after the publication of his first book, Johnson manages here, in 144 pages bursting with dozens of gorgeous full-color photos (a few of which, alas, are uncaptioned), to take the reader on a breathless--and breathy--tour of one of the most celebrated regions in Italy, with narrative reminiscent of a particularly chatty uncle who's just picked you up at the train depot. And, as with many an avuncular itinerary, breathless narration can often leave you panting. Anyone unfamiliar with Tuscany may find themselves, after the endless parade of Certosa di Galluzos, Colli Fiorentinis, Ugo Contini Bonacossis, or Tenuta di Capezzanas, reaching--if not for a big carafe of Vino Nobile--for the drawn maps at the start of each chapter to determine whether these names are villages, Italian nobility, or local wines. But breathy quickly turns breezy as Johnson's evocative prose (the tannins of one Sangiovese are "invigorating, like a rough towel"; a particular hillside vineyard is a "green corduroy of vines") takes you jauntily to the town of Impruneta, producer of authentic terra cotta; Sant'Andrea, where Machiavelli wrote his treatise on power, The Prince; the villa at Vignamaggio, birthplace of Monna Lisa Gherardini, a.k.a. the Mona Lisa; and the city of Pistoia, whence the Germans coined the term "pistol" for the "nasty dagger carried under every Pistoiese's cloak." Italians, too, have a word--villegiatura--to denote the wish of escape from the city to a hillside villa. Tuscany and Its Wines may not replace a summer in Siena, but it's a dandy travel brochure. --Tony Mason

Product Description
World-renowned wine expert Hugh Johnson's elegant tribute to Tuscany is now available in paperback a richly rewarding volume in prose and image for those who enjoy the region's exquisite marriage of wine and food, beauty and history. Traveling from town to town, from hilltop to farmland, Johnson not only explores the Tuscan geography and wineries, but also shares the culture and sites from a stunning cathedral in Siena to a good place for a relaxing glass of wine in Monte Amiata. Poetic, illuminating descriptions combine with over 100 atmospheric photos to capture the essence of Tuscany and bring the author's passion for the region s distinctive grape varietals to life. Glass of Brunello in one hand, Tuscany and Its Wines in the other perfect armchair reading!

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars

Beautiful book for the wine tourist August 17, 2008
This book is a homage basically to the history, culture, landscapes, villages, people, cuisines, wines, vineyards and winemakers of the lovely Tuscan region of Italy. Taking these multi faceted subjects and winding his lovely prose with Andy Katz beautiful photography of the region , Hugh Johnson has created a splendid work.

The first 22 pages cover the history of wine and grape in the Tuscan region. The detail as fine as the scent, shape, size and blending of various grape to produce wines of higher quality and overcome certain flaws with certain varieties of grape have are prominant in this chapter. Its like a short synopsis of the wine making art of the region couple with a brief history of prominant names associated with wine in Tuscany followed by some lovely verse on the landscape, soils, weather etc thrown in.

Once past that opening chaper each Tuscan wine region is explored in a formula that takes the reader on a journey: First the landscape is poetically introduced, followed by descriptions of the leading wine making towns/villages of that region, where their history and architecture - with emphasis on the key restaurants, wineshops, lovely Villa's and churches etc unique to that area - feature prominantly in the prose before the history of the wine and vineyards for that area is covered.

Regions covered include: The Arno Valley, South of Florence (Chianti Country), Siena, The Tuscan Coast (Maremma).

The end chapters offer a selection of the quality Tuscan wines to be found in each region before the book rounds off with a description of the 16 grape varieties grown in the Tuscan region and the other places that grape is popularly grown in and around Italy.

The book is more a celebration of a major wine growing region than a discussion of individual wines in detail. The photography is absolutely gorgeous whether it be a photo of a bunch of grapes hanging from the vine or a panning shot of vineyards trailing down hills or a shot of a villa on a hill or piazza at night. The attention to detail is brilliant. The authors words are penned in a way that is both informative, lucid and absorbing.

All round a lovely book for the wine lover to own.

4 out of 5 stars

More photographs than in-depth information March 28, 2001
22 out of 22 found this review helpful

There's no doubting Hugh Johnson's position as one of the leading wine writers (and appreciators) of our time. This book is a little misleading however, for it is not the in-depth exploration of the Italian wine explosion one expects from Johnson's past works. This book focuses more on Andy Katz' exceptional photographs of one of the lovliest wine regions of the world. Johnson's prose is an homage to Tuscany more than a technical exploration of just what has caused the stunning advances is the region's wine production over the past 20 years. Johnson gives insights into many fine properties, but if you're expecting an expansion on Johnson's encyclopedia of wine's Tuscan entry you will likely be disappointed. Think of it more as a heartfelt appreciation of Tuscan wine and culture -- it's almost poetic in its mesh of prose and photography.

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