Amazon.com (ISBN 0684843803, Paperback)

A long-standing member of Cambridge's Wine and Food Society, Hugh Johnson edited Wine & Food magazine and has written an impressive array of oenological masterpieces, such as The World Atlas of Wine. What makes Johnson special is his ability to translate his knowledge into language the average wine-sipping Joe can appreciate and understand.

The Pocket Encyclopedia takes all Johnson's erudition, selects the most useful and necessary tidbits, and puts it all in a convenient, portable size. Take California. Focusing on one of four featured North American regions (the others being the Pacific Northwest, the Southwest, Texas, etc., and East of the Rockies & Ontario), the California chapter starts off with a brief but savvy wine history of the region and the market, then launches into thumbnail sketches of the principal vineyard areas and a summary of the qualities and characters of recent crops (1985 to 1996 for Chardonnay, 1974 to 1996 for Cabernet Sauvignons), providing an easy and precious reference on the value of various vintages. Then come the wineries--alphabetically listed, rated with a star system, pithily revealing for each their varietals, vintages, flavor characteristics, and any other notable details, such as new owner or direction.

Johnson supplies the same attention to the wines of the world, with chapters dedicated to Sherry, Port, and Madeira, and the Châteaux of Bordeaux.

Johnson provides the skinny on all the major wines you could expect to find in quality wine stores and restaurants, plus a hundred or so more obscure wineries that ship only to private orders. It's all most people need to know. --Stephanie Gold