Publications

Publication of new Monograph

The IWFS has recently published its 14th Monograph entitled “An Appreciation of the Age of Wine”, authored by Sid Cross of our Vancouver Branch, current IWFS Honorary President and past Chairman of your Wines Committee which is responsible for the Vintage Chart and Membership card.  In this treatise Sid takes us on an incredible journey of exceptional wine tasting experiences over the period 1970 to 1990 which the vast majority of us can only dream of.  Many of the wines described are legendary and Sid’s thoughts reflect the true beauty of a wine that has been allowed to gracefully age.
 
Sid’s experiences are complimented by articles by John Salvi M.W. who deals with the technical aspects of aging wine and by Clive Coates M.W. who provides his views on how fine wines have changed since 1980. The Preface was written by Michael Broadbent M.W. past President of our Society after reading this monograph and who you will find was one of Sid’s tasting partners on a number of occasions.
 
This Monograph and accompanying articles makes for a most enjoyable and educational reading experience.

If you would like to order a copy (£7.50 inc p&p) of this handy A5 sized, paperback monograph please click here to download an order form and return it to our International Secretariat in London on email: click here or via fax:+44 (0)20 7827 5733 and we will despatch your order.  For further assistance, or a list of other titles in the series, please call us on +44 (0)20 7827 5732.

Review of ‘An Appreciation of the Age of Wine’ by Steven Spurrier

An Appreciation of the Age of Wine, issued by the International Wine & Food Society in September 2012, with contributions by four authors, is a delightful and valuable contribution to wine literature from all points of view, not the least being its dedication in memory of John Avery, one of the greats of the wine trade and much missed by all of us.  

Michael Broadbent opens up with a “fatherly” preface, leading us into the excellent technical piece on red wine making by John Salvi, who has seen everything in his now six decades in and around Bordeaux, who concludes that “making great wine that can age with grace and beauty is an art, and drinking it one of the great pleasures of civilized society”.  This truism must not get lost, however much wine has changed once it entered the “modern” period in 1982.  

Clive Coates covers these changes, not all of which he favours, fearing that “today’s wines will not last as successfully as the wines I was brought up on.”  Only time will tell.  

Then, across 45 closely noted pages, Sid Cross recalls the famous tastings he attended over the past forty years.  He must be the best-introduced and most-travelled member the IW&FS has in its world-wide following.  I have been in the wine trade since 1964 and have seldom been to such prestigious events and to have them so well-recorded here is rather like, for me, looking through old copies of Vogue or Harper’s Bazaar, and remarking how so much more beautiful the women were in those days, how so much more elegant the men.  Why can’t we be like that today?  We can’t, because we are in the present and they, like the events and the wines that Sid Cross describes so euphorically are in the past, a past that is well worth reading about.  Steven Spurrier

Steven Spurrier (born 1941) is a British wine expert and former merchant in Paris, France, who has been described as a champion of French wine.  Spurrier organized the Paris Wine Tasting of 1976, which promoted the expansion of wine production in the new world. He is also the founder of the Academie du Vin and Christie's Wine Course, in addition to authoring and co-authoring several wine books.

Previous Monographs published by the IWFS *

• Icewine, John Schreiner (2004), No.12

• The Science of Taste, Ruth Binney (2003), No.11 

• Truffles, Michael Raffael (2002), No.10 

• Chianti Classico, Tom Maresca (2002), No.9 

• Barolo, Stephen Hobley (2001), No.8

• Traditional French Cheeses, Judy Ridgway (2001), No.7 

• Chablis, Michael Edwards (2001), No.6

• Growers’ Champagne, Philippe Boucheron (2000), No.5 

• Tokaji, Ben Howkins (1999), No.4

• Wine and Health, Paul Scholten, MD (1997), No.3

• A Dissertation on Wine Waiters, Christopher Fielden (1996), No.2

• Visiting Vineyards, David Wolfe (1996), No.1

* Please note that copies of the monographs are available on the website for members.  These are free for members to download and read at their leisure.  To view those which are currently available please visit the members only section of the website under Secretariat / For Members / Monographs for Members.

Copies of past monographs are available to order (subject to availability) from the International Secretariat in London.  Members can download an order form in members only section of the website under Secretariat / For Members / Merchandise. Non-members wishing to purchase copies should contact the International Secretariat via email: sec@iwfs.org.

André Simon Lectures

Please click on the Speaker's Name to open the document.   The lecture given by Michael Broadbent MW was the André L Simon Memorial Lecture given at Christie's, London on Monday October 18th, 1971 (with the Foreword by Hugh Johnson OBE).