Michael Broadbent's Vintage Wine

After devoting five decades to sampling, studying and selling wine, Broadbent boasts encyclopedic vinous knowledge. Head of Christie's wine department since 1966, the author has tasted almost everything. In this volume, Broadbent offers detailed accounts of wines he's tried (always mentioning when his last tasting took place), peppered with anecdotes of wine dinners and wealthy oenophiles. Each major wine-producing region, from Bordeaux to California to New Zealand and everywhere in between, has its own chapter. Chapters are subdivided into time periods, with an introduction to the region during each period, a list of specific years that produced great vintages, year-by-year highlights, and a zero-to-five star rating system for each wine catalogued. Broadbent gushes about his favorites, but he remains forthright: while a 1945 Bordeaux from Chateau Latour is a""great wine. Surely one of the best ever Latours, drinking beautifully now but with many years more life,"" a 1954 Bordeaux from that same vineyard is""chunky, coarse, and blunt."" Anyone considering a vintage purchase or wondering about the right time to uncork a dusty bottle could consult this extensive guide. And anyone seeking to impress friends with wine bravado could easily quote Broadbent's colloquial opinions.