Hugh Johnson, encore!
A while back, I wrote with both pleasure and a little sadness about the popular British wine writer Hugh Johnson's autobiography, Hugh Johnson: A Life Uncorked.
I was pleased, because I love Hugh Johnson and his work. But I felt a little sad because I feared that this noted wine scribe's autobiography, looking back over nearly 50 years, signaled a capstone on a great career.
I'd like to say that I followed him since the very start, but in fact he already been writing about wine for years before I picked up my first copy of his handy little Pocket Wine Book in 1978 and then had the great pleasure of meeting him - and finding him as modest and unassuming in person as he is in print - at a wine competition in Torgiano, Italy, in 1982.
As it turns out, I needn't have worried. That was in 2006, and more than a decade later, Johnson is still going strong. His Hugh Johnson's Pocket Wine 2017 came out last autumn, marking the annual guide's 40th Anniversary.
And now, I'm delighted to learn that Johnson is publishing yet another volume looking back over a life in wine well-lived: Hugh Johnson on Wine, Good Bits from 55 Years of Scribbling, will be published on May 2 by his longtime publisher, Mitchell Beazley. It is already available for pre-ordering on Amazon.com at $15.84 for the hardcover book, a 37 percent saving from the $24.99 list price; or $9.99 for the Kindle edition.I was fortunate enough to get an advance copy from the publisher, and am enjoying it greatly. Know that it is not new material but a thorough (256-page) anthology of Johnson's writing, organized by decade from the 1960s to the 2010s. "There is not often time to pause, reread, reflect or realise how many traces you have left in the sands of time," Johnson writes. "Sometimes I am inconsistent, often I repeat myself but ... it amounts to one man's wine history."
It's carefully selected to offer a broad sampling of Johnson's thoughts and opinions on a wine scene in which, as he points out, "All commentators agree (and rightly) that wine has developed more in the past fifty years than in the previous five hundred. Although 'improved' is probably a more relevant word than 'developed'. Good wines have flooded into our lives from places, countries, even continents that were innocent of any wine before. What was, when I set out, very much a niche subject has blossomed into something of wide (I daren't quite say general) interest."
This is a book that wine lovers could easily sit down and read straight through - the Kindle edition guesses that it will take an average reader 5 hours and 45 minutes - or to dip in and browse through one decade of wine, then another.
I don't want to spoil your enjoyment with too many quotes, but let me wrap up with just one poetic thought that captures Johnson's view of wine, a view that matches my own:
"Wine is grape juice. Every drop of liquid filling so many bottles has been drawn out of the ground by the roots of a vine. All these different drinks have at one time been sap in a stick. It is the first of many strange and some –despite modern research –mysterious circumstances that go to make wine not only the most delicious, but also the most fascinating, drink in the world."
Again, you can pre-order Hugh Johnson on Wine, Good Bits from 55 Years of Scribbling on Amazon.com at $15.84 for the hardcover book, a 37 percent saving from the $24.99 list price; or $9.99 for the Kindle edition.
And here's good news: If you just can't wait until May 2, if you have a Kindle device or Kindle applet, you can get an early peek at the Introduction and 1960s chapter by clicking "Get a Free Sample" on the book's Amazon.com Kindle page.
Enjoy your reading!