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Cyril Ray (1908–1991)

Author of The Wines of Italy

57 Works 315 Members 8 Reviews

About the Author

Includes the name: CYRIL RAY (EDITOR)

Series

Works by Cyril Ray

The Wines of Italy (1966) 39 copies
Compleat Imbiber No 14 (1989) 17 copies
New Compleat Imbiber (1986) 15 copies
COMPLEAT IMBIBER (1971) — Editor — 14 copies
The gourmet's companion (1963) 11 copies
Cognac (1973) 11 copies
The Guide to Wine (1982) 10 copies
The Wines of France (1976) 10 copies
Merry England (1960) 9 copies
Vintage Tales (1984) 9 copies
The wines of Germany (1977) 9 copies
The Compleat Imbiber 7 (1964) 6 copies
Cyril Ray's Book of Wine (1978) 6 copies
The Compleat Imbiber 8 (1965) 6 copies
Lickerish Limericks (1979) 5 copies
Ray on Wine (1979) 5 copies
Wine with food (1975) 5 copies
The Compleat Imbiber 9 (1967) 4 copies
Compleat Imbiber 12 (1971) 3 copies
The Compleat Imbiber 5 (1962) 3 copies
Wijnen van de wereld (1979) 2 copies
The Compleat Imbiber - 4, (1961) 2 copies
Compleat Imbiber (1984) 2 copies
The Compleat Imbiber 3 (1960) 1 copy
In a glass lightly (1969) 1 copy

Tagged

Common Knowledge

Canonical name
Ray, Cyril
Birthdate
1908-03-16
Date of death
1991-09-24
Gender
male
Nationality
England
UK
Birthplace
Bury, Lancashire, England, UK
Places of residence
London, England, UK
Bury, Lancashire, England, UK
Rome, Italy
Education
Jesus College, Oxford University
Wesleyan Church School, Bury, Lancashire, England, UK
Manchester Grammar School
Occupations
author
journalist
Short biography
Cyril Ray (16 March 1908 – 24 September 1991) was an English author and journalist. After a spell as a war reporter, and then a foreign correspondent he became best known for writing about food and, especially, wine. He became a wine writer almost randomly, and had strong interests in other spheres such as military history and riding. In addition to writing about food and wine, Ray wrote histories of major wine producers, including Ch. Lafite, Ch. Mouton Rothschild and Bollinger. He also wrote volumes of military history. A strong socialist, he resigned from prominent positions when he felt his principles incompatible with those of the publication.

Members

Reviews

Lovely book with many very enjoyable stories, as well as being an interesting look at how wine writing has changed
 
Flagged
DermotNolan | Jun 12, 2023 |
An enjoyable coffee-table style read. The text, touching on most, if not all, major spirits, is accompanied by numerous (often historical) images relating to the production and culture of spirits/liqueurs, and begins with a general history of distillation, then goes on to brandy, whisky, gin (and similar), rum, vodka, Eau de vie, and finally different sweetened liqueurs. I was happy to find that I learned a number of facts, as the author did a good job of simplifying and clarifying many things.

This is neither a "must try" (and in fact, rarely mentions specific brands of spirits...liqueurs, particularly ones with a long history) nor a cookbook (only a couple historical cocktail recipes).

It is, however, not actually complete...that would require something the size of a dictionary. Four stars, and certainly worth picking up if you happen to see it (as I did) in a used-book store and are interested in the subject.
… (more)
 
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Beorn_se_Bacaire | Dec 18, 2013 |
This interesting anthology of the pleasures of the table includes, on pp. 140-142, M.F.K. Fisher's essay titled "On Dining Alone",
which was reprinted from the chapter of the same name in her first book, Serve it Forth, published by Harpers in 1937.
 
Flagged
rschwed | Sep 25, 2013 |
See my review dated 24 Jun 2012 on the Amazon website
 
Flagged
lestermay | Jun 24, 2012 |

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Associated Authors

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Statistics

Works
57
Members
315
Popularity
#74,965
Rating
½ 3.7
Reviews
8
ISBNs
45
Languages
2

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