I thought that since we are getting down to the wire for Christmas gift giving, something that can arrive next day might be helpful. I love a lot of wine books but recently finished this one and found a lot to like!

Who is it for: The wine or food person in your life who loves storytelling, discovering artisanal products and who wants to find more inspiration. This is also a nice guidebook for someone who is spending time at fine dining or shopping at the higher-end and would like to be primed on the styles of typical wine icons. You will leave this book with a shopping list - and because of Parr’s selections, you’ll rarely find a bad bottle - although be prepared to pay as the book features exclusively established premium producers.

As a practical measure, I’ve found the book very useful in illuminating the unique attributes that taste-making somms seek out when evaluating producers. Somm palates aren’t exactly the same as the average person’s in my experience, but if you’d like to understand what they seek, this book gives you some clues.

This book has great photography, complimentary but not overly wanky personal profiles of top winemakers, some insight into regional character and useful chunking of information that lets the reader absorb in short or long reading sessions. The information is especially beneficial to people with a good amount of wine experience. If you’re in the business, I think it’s a very easy read, as a lot of the “shorthand” and analogies depend on accepted wine knowledge and terminology, but it’s not jargon-filled. I’d discourage absolute beginners from the book, unless they are already geeks in other areas - the book is written in High Geek.

Where it really shines is as a resource for French wine primarily as it doesn’t spend much time elsewhere. In particular, lovers of Burgundy and the northern Rhône get lengthy sections that benefit wine lovers from beginner curiosity all the way up to wonky tasting group obsessives.

France alone covers 200+ of the book’s 337 pages with Italy in 2nd with 48 pages, 12 of which are full page photos. So calling it an Atlas is somewhat misleading (there are no maps!?), and the idea of taste is also not so much an overarching theme. I’d describe the book is essentially a travelogue portfolio of Parr’s favorite and well-established brands. That’s a good thing, but if you’re looking for a reference, look elsewhere. Helpfully, each section aims to provide a good overview of each appellation with some historical and cultural context. The authors provide some guidance on how the character of wines from each area differ and relate. Taste is described in somm terms, so be prepared for expressions like “crunchy.”

A few very minor downsides: the book’s point of perspective is very much in line with orthodoxy- French wines, their taxonomy and culture are reinforced as the aspirational norm. Parr’s expertise and breadth of experience are legendary, but the book plays things very conservatively. It would have been great for him to release some truth bombs into the wild.

Parr and Mackay spend some well-intentioned time trying to tackle some of the “inside baseball” of wine, investigating the ideas of terroir and minerality. They make an honest effort to include some hard science perspectives-but ultimately they recognize this is not their area of expertise and back off without landing at any conclusions. That’s fine. The book probably didn’t need these sections but it does indicate they’re self-aware that wine is often appreciated but not understood.

Instead, they focus on their strengths of product knowledge and storytelling and I was gobbling that shit up. I wanted to open so many bottles while reading this book. Parr obviously can taste at a very high level but its his breadth of experience and ability to link sense memories, production methods and “terroir” information that gives him insight and global respect. Mackay is a very fine writer, setting scenes, highlighting important and poignant moments and best of all, compressing inchoate wine wisdom into understandable ideas for the reader. He is a champ and absolutely deserves equal billing here.

The books takes you on the road with some well-connected experts and makes you want to experience these products and places first-hand. That’s a huge success in my eyes. Does it make you want to switch careers and run away with the circus like Adventures on the Wine Route? Not quite. If you love wine, this book will make you love it even more.