'On Bordeaux' - Susan Keevil

‘On Bordeaux: Tales of the Unexpected from the World’s Greatest Wine Region’

by Susan Keevil

When things turn out right for Bordeaux, as they frequently do, its wines are sublime. They inspire many thousands of tributes, from Samuel Pepys’ succinct reviews to the most rhapsodic of Michael Broadbent’s tasting notes – in short, over 300 years of wine writing. On Bordeaux is a collection of the best bits, from our best-loved wine writers, critics and commentators, set around 10 of the themes that make Bordeaux tick.

As Jane Anson writes in her introduction: “multi-layered, clear-eyed, moving and often extremely funny [this] collection of stories… celebrates, illuminates and renews our understanding of Bordeaux.”

In On Bordeaux:

• Hugh Johnson, Fiona Beckett and Baron Elie de Rothschild discuss dining out on Bordeaux: how best to serve it, with what and who with.

• Mathieu Chadronnier, Christian Seely and Joe Fattorini shed light on the way we see claret today.

• Ian Maxwell Campbell extols the virtues of 1871 and 1875, the last great vintages before the phylloxera plague.

• Fiona Morrison MW explores Bordeaux’s great bounce-back and how the vintage of 1982 changed everything.

• John Salvi, Bill Blatch and Peter Vinding-Diers reveal the wines that lead the way to Bordeaux’s future.

• Joe Fattorini serves up everything you need to know on running the iconic Médoc Marathon.

• Hugh Johnson pays tribute to Bordeaux master Michael Broadbent.

• Contributions from Stephen Browett, Margaret Rand, James Lawther MW, Cyril Ray, Nicholas Faith, Cyril Ray, Gerald Asher, Neal Martin, David Peppercorn MW, Edmund Penning-Rowsell, James Seely, Steven Spurrier, Edith Somerville, Martin Ross, Elin McCoy, Simon Gotelee, Jane Anson, Joan Littlewood, Michael Broadbent, Jane Anson, Margaret Rand, Nicholas Faith, Cyrus Redding, Joseph-François Audibert, Nicholas Faith, Stephen Brook, Andrew Caillard MW, Edmund Penning-Rowsell, Charles Ludington, Giles MacDonogh, Michael Schuster and George Saintsbury