Overview

John Platter returns! With the same simple approach to wine which made him a household name in South Africa, he tells the stories of wines and winemakers; taste the wines himself; writes about them in language everyone can understand. Today's winelands are another country. Young revolutionaries are leading a charge. Old campaigners are rising to the challenge. New areas, new varieties are being explored, ancient vineyards revived. Never has the wine scene been so exciting, so ready for this new book by an old hand. A writer who has also grown and made wine himself. This is not another Platter wine guide. It is not a list of the 'best' wines blind-tasted and scored by a panel. It is no more, no less, than John Platter's purely personal picks of the wines he enjoys drinking. And why. It is completely different from any other wine book on the market. The stunning images are by photographer Clinton Friedman.

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9780620663618

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Reviews

He had me with the second sentence of the Author's Notes: 'I have attempted to moderate the levels of gush . . .' I love you, John Platter. Not because you moderate the gush, although I applaud that (as someone who battles with the same problem), but because you want to gush. There is a trend, these days, for much criticism to be levelled at wine writers who write with immoderate enthusiasm. Raving about a wine is tr s d class . You are very cool indeed if you critique with an insouciant shrug, and when the highest praise from your pen is 'interesting'. I'm not promoting abject adoration for every bottle of wine, but reserve can run very close to indifference, and there are times when I find subjective enthusiasm as refreshing as a vin de soif. Sod sophistication. (Perhaps I can say that because I'm African, tr s tr s d class , and biased.) He had me, again, when he confessed that 'this is not a systematic - much less comprehensive - tour of the wine lands. It's a ramble.' So, kick off your shoes and lay down your notepad, pour a glass of wine, put one hand against the wall to brace yourself for the emotion, and open this book. --Tamlyn Currin, wine critic, journalist

He had me with the second sentence of the Author's Notes: 'I have attempted to moderate the levels of gush . . .' I love you, John Platter. Not because you moderate the gush, although I applaud that (as someone who battles with the same problem), but because you want to gush. There is a trend, these days, for much criticism to be levelled at wine writers who write with immoderate enthusiasm. Raving about a wine is tres declasse. You are very cool indeed if you critique with an insouciant shrug, and when the highest praise from your pen is 'interesting'. I'm not promoting abject adoration for every bottle of wine, but reserve can run very close to indifference, and there are times when I find subjective enthusiasm as refreshing as a vin de soif. Sod sophistication. (Perhaps I can say that because I'm African, tres tres declasse, and biased.) He had me, again, when he confessed that 'this is not a systematic - much less comprehensive - tour of the wine lands. It's a ramble.' So, kick off your shoes and lay down your notepad, pour a glass of wine, put one hand against the wall to brace yourself for the emotion, and open this book. Tamlyn Currin, wine critic, journalist

He had me with the second sentence of the Author's Notes: 'I have attempted to moderate the levels of gush . . .' I love you, John Platter. Not because you moderate the gush, although I applaud that (as someone who battles with the same problem), but because you want to gush. There is a trend, these days, for much criticism to be levelled at wine writers who write with immoderate enthusiasm. Raving about a wine is tres declasse. You are very cool indeed if you critique with an insouciant shrug, and when the highest praise from your pen is 'interesting'. I'm not promoting abject adoration for every bottle of wine, but reserve can run very close to indifference, and there are times when I find subjective enthusiasm as refreshing as a vin de soif. Sod sophistication. (Perhaps I can say that because I'm African, tres tres declasse, and biased.) He had me, again, when he confessed that 'this is not a systematic - much less comprehensive - tour of the wine lands. It's a ramble.' So, kick off your shoes and lay down your notepad, pour a glass of wine, put one hand against the wall to brace yourself for the emotion, and open this book. --Tamlyn Currin, wine critic, journalist

Author Information

John Platter came to South Africa as a foreign correspondent, bureau chief for UPI, in the late 1970s. He is still here. The Rand Daily Mail wine column he began after leaving fulltime journalism to farm in Franschhoek expanded into an annual wine guide which he and his wife Erica wrote and selfpublished. It was an instant success. Sold by the Platters after 20 years, it remains a best-seller. Their travel-wine-adventure story Africa uncorked won numerous international laurels including the UK's most prestigious Glenfiddich award. My kind of wine is John Platter's first book since. He is currently busy on another, featuring the role wine has played in his adventures as a cattle dealer, polo player, war correspondent and much more. Editor Erica Platter and photographer-designer Clinton Friedman are partners in PawPaw Publishing, which has published this book. It is their fourth collaboration. Their first books, the East coast tables series, won World Gourmand South Africa awards. Their third book, Durban curry, So much of flavour, was World Gourmand's South African book of the year and came second to the World Food book of the year.

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