Yet another book on Burgundy has reached the Australian shelves, distributed by Inbooks with an RRP of $49.95. It contains 320 pages of full colour photography and text, and has an entirely new take. The author, Bill Nanson, is a chemist by profession, and has no connection to the wine trade, but has made frequent visits to Burgundy over the past 15 years and regularly works the vintage there. On thing that particularly impressed me (apart from Hugh Johnson’s foreword) was his vintage chart from 1990 to 2010, in which he refused to ascribe any rating to the vintages 1994-2004 inclusive because of (and I quote) ‘the pervasive influence of oxidised bottles renders this period a complete lottery. Spend only what you can afford to lose.’
