This year marks the 50th anniversary of my serious interest in wine. I can trace my involvement in the subject to a moment in 1975 when I was dining with a co-worker. It was at a good restaurant in a western town with a menu featuring beef in various forms. The wine list was short, and I knew nothing at all about the selections. My co-worker, however, impressed me when he demonstrated that he knew the difference between the Cabernet Sauvignon and Gamay Beaujolais on the list – I believe they were both Christian Brothers wines. I decided at that moment that I would seek a greater level of erudition about wine so that I too could discern the differences between offerings.
So, I bought a book, not just any book, but Hugh Johnson’s The World Atlas of Wine. This volume changed the way wine students could look at wine. Of course, any wine reference book would have simple sketch maps, but this one took cartographic precision to a much greater level. When Mr. Johnson released the first edition of the Atlas in 1971, it was as much a labor of love as anything. The growing wine world took note, however, and his inspiration to create an atlas of wine resonated with many of those new to the subject.
I was one of those who purchased the first edition. Now I could locate a vineyard, not just a village, on a detailed map with the topography embedded in the presentation. I could buy a wine, locate the vineyard it came from, taste it and note how it differed from others. The cartography was an essential element in my wine education.
The World Atlas of Wine has been a great success, especially compared to other wine books. Jancis Robinson joined as a co-author of the Atlas in 1998 and now does much of the revision work. The Eighth Edition is the latest rendition and was released in 2019. Since each edition has been expanded and revised as the wine world has evolved, I decided to look at several editions to assess the scope of the changes. I compared the original 1971 edition, the 1985 Third edition, the 2001 Fifth edition – the first co-authored by Jancis Robinson, and the 2019 Eighth edition. Using The World Atlas of Wine as a proxy for degree of change and interest, we can compare editions and see how those changes are expressed in print.
In 1971, there were 236 pages about wine. That grew to 284 by 1985, 328 in 2001 and 390 in 2019, a 65% increase in overall print space. There are many differences in graphics and photographs that affect the number of pages, but page count is still a reasonable metric to use for comparison. As I looked through the various books, there are many differences as well as some reliable constants.
French wines always get the most print measured by absolute page numbers, but the percentage devoted to French products has remained relatively constant. It was 25% of the 1971 edition and 25% of the 2019 version. German wines command the same number of pages but a decreasing percentage as the volume grows. If we look at the classic Old World combination of France, Germany and Italy, we find the percentage of page devotion dropping from 46% in 1971 to 40% in 2019.
New World wines have taken up the slack. North American pages grew from 9 in the 1971 edition to 38 in 2019. If we combine North America, South America and Australia/New Zealand, the representation grows from 7% of the 1971 Atlas to 20% of the 2019 edition. Perhaps the starkest change is New Zealand. In 1971, this was the entry for all of New Zealand:
“New Zealand: Of 3,000 acres of vineyards, 85% are around Auckland, Hawke’s Bay (planted as early as 1865), and Gisbourne. Four-fifths of production is fortified wine. Hybrid and vinifera grapes are both grown, the former in the wetter Auckland area. Emphasis is shifting from ordinary to better-quality wine.”
That’s less than 50 words for the entire nation. The 2019 edition of The World Atlas of Wine devotes over 6000 words and nine pages to New Zealand. Quite a difference in just 48 years. Emphasis clearly shifted to better-quality wines, and the entire wine world knows the singular character of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc.
The character of other nations’ wine output has changed dramatically as well. Greek wine is a fine example of how viticulture and vinification have evolved. In the 1971 Atlas, Hugh Johnson wrote:
“Half the wine made in Greece is [treated with pine resin], and the result is one of the most individual and appetizing drinks of the world. Where peasant food is always oily (and often musty) it is also particularly effective in cancelling the flavour of a doubtful mouthful.”
What a contrast to the introduction to Greek wines in the 8th Atlas edition of 2019:
“Fortunately, Greece is particularly well placed to offer just what the world’s wine enthusiasts now seek: intriguing indigenous grape varieties, a wide variety of terroirs, refreshing wines with a history and a story, and artisanal winemaking methods.”
In the late 1970’s when I was beginning my exploration, wine selections in the central US were mostly from California and Europe. Australian wines were a rarity. New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc vineyards were not yet planted. South African wines were not seen in the US and South American wines were limited mostly to a few Chilean labels. Argentine wines were rarely offered. Low priced wines often came from North Africa – Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia were common sources. Spain, Portugal and Italy were mostly sources of rustic red wines and off-dry rosés like Mateus and Lancers. Soave and Frascati were the Italian whites most often seen. Pinot Grigio was an exotic alpine white only occasionally available. Sweet, fizzy Lambrusco was top selling Italian wine as well. Fine Barolos, Brunellos and Barbarescos could be found only with a search of specialty shops or finer Italian restaurants.
California wines were in the first wave of the modern era. Newly established wineries like Mayacamas, Diamond Creek, Cakebread, and Ravenswood were getting impressive reviews for their wines. Now nearly forgotten wineries like Yverdon, Cassayre-Forni, Carneros Creek, Jekel and Hoffman Mountain Ranch were producing sought-after bottles. Author Leon D. Adams, in his 1978 edition of The Wines of America, wrote of Oregon wines:
“In Oregon, as in Washington, Vinifera and Labrusca grapes have long flourished side by side. Also, as in Washington, the planting of Vinifera grapes and the number of wineries have multiplied since the late 1960s, though on a different scale. Oregon still has only 1,200 acres of vineyards but already has two dozen wineries and still more on new vineyardists’ drawing boards.”
Times have certainly changed. A modern census of Oregon wines shows that, in 2024, there were over one thousand wineries and over 47,000 acres of vineyard. Oregon Pinot Noir is recognized and lauded throughout the world. In the 1970’s, it was barely a footnote to US wine production.
The shelves of retail wine stores today show the dramatic change of the last 50 years. Labels from Australia, Argentina, New Zealand and Chile dominate the space along with California and Italy. Many affordably priced wines are now global brands, sourcing wines from wherever the price point demands. The quality of wine across the spectrum is clearly higher than it was decades ago. Winemaking technology has improved and helped to minimize the number of truly awful bottlings that make it to the market. Much more care is now taken to ensure that wine is transported in proper conditions.
I look back at my half century of wine enthusiasm with pleasure. Wine has never been better, more diverse, more available or a better value than it is today. I have many memories of sampling great wines with great companions and reveling in our shared passion for the fermented grape. I’m looking forward to my next great wine experience.