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Wine Books: Len Evans

Len Evans was a doyen of down under; he passed away in 2006, but his legacy is much of the Australian wine industry that exists today.

Complete Book of Australian Wine (First edition, revised 1990)
Len Evans
Available from Amazon
0-8160-2631-9

This book has proved invaluable in my education regarding the wines of Australia. Although printed ten years ago, the detailed historical accounts of Australia's wine producers remain significant and useful. Following an introduction and a history of wine in Australia, Evans, the founding director of the Australian Wine Bureau in 1965, has rather sensibly arranged details of the wine regions state by state, starting with New South Wales and finishing with Tasmania and Queensland. It is this 384 page section which is most valuable, as again and again Evans gives fascinating, accurate, detailed accounts of hundreds of wine producers and their wines, nicely illustrated with good photography, plain maps and numerous label images. The subsequent text also gives somewhat brief advice on everything from cellaring to breathing times, as well as an account of grape varieties, and a wine glossary. This is an authoritative work on Australian wine, unrivalled as far as I am aware.

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