Sotheby's World Wine Encyclopedia by Stevenson, Tom
Sotheby's World Wine Encyclopedia By Tom Stevenson (Collectible First Edition in Original Slipcase)
The Definitive 1980s Visual Oenological Masterwork and Comprehensive Global Terroir Atlas
The Definitive 1980s Visual Oenological Masterwork and Comprehensive Global Terroir Atlas
Bibliographic Specifications
- Title: Sotheby's World Wine Encyclopedia
- Author: Tom Stevenson
- Publisher: Dorling Kindersley Limited, London
- Publication Date: 1988
- ISBN-10: 0863182381
- ISBN-13: 9780863182389
- Edition Details: First Edition, First Printing (Prestige Hardcover Release in Custom Publisher's Slipcase)
- Binding: Original publisher's premium dark blue cloth/material boards with gilt-stamped spine lettering, housed inside the original illustrated protective cardboard slipcase.
- Physical Format: Large Format Heavy Quarto (4to), 480 pages. Lavishly enhanced with custom multi-layered cartographic maps mapping individual chateaux, specialized dynamic taste charts, vintage durability timelines, and hundreds of high-definition documentary photographs.
- Language: English
Official Condition Report
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The Book: Very Good Plus (VG+)
- Exterior / Boards: The original premium dark blue material casing remains structurally robust, square-cornered, and remarkably flat. Exhibits very limited, superficial signs of handling wear along the surfaces, entirely consistent with careful archival storage. The spine text is perfectly crisp and completely undamaged at the head and tail bands, with zero spine leaning.
- Interior: The inner hinges, heavy endpapers, and binding are pristine and tight. Internal pages, color maps, and glossy reference plates are completely clean, crisp, white, and intact. Absolutely free from standard consumer ink inscriptions, wine stains, or dealer pencil annotations.
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The Slipcase: Good (G)
- Condition: Present and structurally intact, fulfilling its role in safeguarding the volume. Displays standard storage shelf rubbing and small, localized structural tears along the corner tips and outer entry joints.
- Preservation: This volume has clearly been well maintained and looked after thus far. The book itself remains in top-tier collector-grade status.
Synopsis & Viticultural Value
Published in 1988 by Dorling Kindersley in partnership with the prestigious auction house, Sotheby's World Wine Encyclopedia stands as a monumental landmark in 20th-century wine literature. Celebrated wine authority Tom Stevenson designs this definitive volume to act as a complete encyclopedia of global wines and a deeply practical guide to choosing and appreciating fine vintages.
The masterwork features specialized taste charts that unpack the exact DNA of individual wines, explaining how they are cultivated, detailed tasting profiles, and expert metrics indicating the best recent vintages and precisely when to open particular bottles. Acting as a premier terroir atlas, the highly detailed maps outline the primary wine regions of each country, explicitly highlighting principal districts alongside the exact locations of individual chateaux, family domains, and historic vineyards. This classic 1980s compendium remains an indispensable reference for sommeliers, wine historians, and collectors of rare viticultural literature.
Author Profile: Tom Stevenson
Tom Stevenson is an internationally acclaimed British wine writer, journalist, and global authority who is widely considered the world's preeminent expert on Champagne and sparkling wines. Over a prolific career spanning more than forty years, Stevenson has authored 28 highly regarded books—including the iconic Christie's World Encyclopedia of Champagne & Sparkling Wine—and has served as the long-term author of the Sunday Telegraph Good Wine Guide. The first writer to predict the competitive rise of English sparkling wine, his analytical approach, cartographic precision, and multi-disciplinary research have earned him over thirty global literary awards, including multiple wins at the prestigious Glenfiddich Wine Writer of the Year.
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