Scotsman Books of the Year: Drink

The fermented grape can celebrate a vintage crop of wine books this year, starting with a wonderful new guide, Larousse Wine (Hamlyn, £40), which makes for fascinating reading for novice and connoisseur alike.

From the origins of wine and the vine cycle to how best to identify wine – such as “decoding” a label – and its storage and serving, the book then takes a country by country approach. It is disproportionately weighted to France with 108 pages, to just 14 for South America and only two for Asia, even though China is now the sixth-largest producer in the world. Yet its 600-plus illustrations are worth the price alone – it’s a worthy companion to Larousse Gastronomique.

Naturalness is a hot topic in the wine world. For the technically minded, Jamie Goode and Sam Harrop have teamed up to pen Authentic Wine (University of California Press, £20.95). They argue that wines can achieve their greatest expression of individuality if left to develop in as natural a way as possible.

From the correct use of the land to treatments in the cellar, this duo explain biodynamics and sustainability and elucidate on the reasons behind wine faults. A sommelier should never get the better of you again!

The inside story of Spain’s best-known wine region is fascinating. The Finest Wines of Rioja and Northwest Spain (Aurum, £20) by Jesus Barquin, Luis Gutierrez and Victor de la Serna not only covers Rioja but such diverse lands as Navarra, Bierzo, Galicia and the Basque country.

Supported by well-designed maps and fine photography from Jon Wyand, three of Spain’s top wine critics assess where to really find quality Tempranillo and the wonderfully crisp white Albarino. Their top ten lists are likely to prove popular and controversial.

Stephen Brook gives 90 profiles to the people behind the label in The Finest Wines of California (Aurum, £20), a state as large as many a country. Its 19th-century pioneers proved wine could be made successfully and despite prohibition in between, the quality today is not in doubt, though it comes at a price. From criticism by some of excessive oak, too much alcohol or too lean and herbaceous, Brook has found a selection worthy of note. Two tips are Sonoma’s Iron Horse for its superb sparkling and Napa Valley’s Diamond Creek, whose quality is akin to a first growth Claret.

For complexity and longevity, the produce of one Portuguese island off the North African coast is still the leader. Many of its secrets are revealed in The Wines of Madeira (www.winesofmadeira.com, £13.99) by head teacher turned wine educator Trevor Elliott.

Its vines are under threat from hotel developers and only eight shippers remain. Yet the winemaking technique – simulating a voyage to the Indies and back – ensures we can enjoy a glass of a Victorian vintage today. The wines Elliott describes deserve a wider audience.

Rosalind Cooper’s The Wine Year (Merrell, £24.95) is a gloriously illustrated world guide, covering winemaking festivals on a month-by-month basis. Her interviews with some of the wine stars of the future – such as Mario Pablo Silva from Chile and Chiara Lungarotti of Umbria in Italy – show real insight, while the food matching tips are practical and inspiring.

Cooper unveils many of the vineyards or wines created by film personalities, from Francis Ford Coppola and Antonio Banderas to Johnny Depp and Sam Neill but, sadly, makes no appraisal of their bottles. French actor Gerard Depardieu says he prefers his life as a winemaker to his more lucrative career in film.

For a gentle stroll through the wine landscape, Gerald Asher’s A Vineyard in My Glass (University of California Press, £20.95) cannot be bettered. This is a collection of his articles as Gourmet’s wine editor for over 30 years and other sources. They show real insight, giving guidance through 27 regions.

Asher always places wine within its context, adding a snatch of history or geology or folklore as necessary to give it appropriate depth. While it could be enlivened with some illustrations, this is a bedside book or after-Sunday lunch dip.

Oz Clarke’s pen has been prolific again with both Pocket Wine Guide 2012 (Pavilion £9.99) and 250 Best Wines (Pavilion, £7.99). The wine critic’s irreverent style bounces through 7,500 wines and 4,000 producers in the former, now in its 20th year. It includes places to watch (Brazil and Sussex, both for fizz), producers to follow (all but two of whom are southern hemisphere) and top value.

Clarke judges the top 100 for his companion book on flavour, not price, but reveals that 20 cost less than £10 a bottle. Both volumes are likely to be popular stocking fillers.