“Just love pulling the cork out of Hugh’s guide and drinking in the information within”

Back in the day, the day being the late nineties and over the millennium, I was quite the Francophile and enjoyed many a trip to La Belle France to take in its cafe culture and enjoy a relaxed lengthy lunch , dining on the ‘Plat du Jour’. Oh yeah, also bring back a boot full of booze (it was an estate car, so the boot was plentiful) with the 10 franc bottles of red (£1 a bottle effectively) being the majority purchase – even paying by cheque for the bank to sort out at a later date.

Then I discovered Hugh Johnson’s Pocket Wine Book, which was first published in 1977, and the next time I took the ferry from Poole to Cherbourg, I was a bone fide wine expert.

Well, I had the Hugh in my pocket and was ready to look up every bottle under 15 francs to see what he had to say about it. Through Hugh I discovered Crozes Hermitage and Chateauneuf-du-Pape as well as Fitou. All of a sudden, the quality of the wine was beginning to overtake the cost – no more 87p cooking wine that could be served at a summer BBQ without any query.

This said, it meant that the 24 hour trips to France were becoming more expensive as better bottles were bought and new varieties tried, thanks to Hugh’s recommendation.

It has been a good many years since I last went to France, mainly due to my booze buddy passing away, and so the need for Hugh Johnson in my life also dwindled. Until now, that is, and it is with immense pleasure to find his latest Pocket Wine Book being delivered to the door.

I was excited to open up and pour myself into the pages and have spent many a happy few minutes, at a time, pulling the cork out of Hugh’s guide and drinking in the information within. As always, there is an incredible amount of detail and everything you would need to know to make an informed wine-buying decision.

I think we can all raise a glass to that.

Here’s what the official blurb says about the 2025 version of Hugh Johnson’s Pocket Wine Book;

THE WORLD’S BESTSELLING ANNUAL WINE GUIDE

Hugh Johnson’s Pocket Wine Book is the essential reference book for everyone who buys wine – in shops, restaurants, or on the internet.

Now in its 48th year of publication, it has no rival as the comprehensive, up-to-the-minute annual guide to wine.

Providing clear succinct facts and commentary on the wines, growers and wine regions of the whole world, the book also reveals which vintages to buy, which to drink and which to cellar, as well as the best growers to look for and why.

Hugh Johnson’s Pocket Wine Book 2025 gives clear information on grape varieties, local specialities and how to match food with wines that will bring out the best in both.

This latest edition of Hugh Johnson’s Pocket Wine Book includes a colour supplement on Pinot Noir, the world’s most highly prized grape, discussing everything from variety and food pairings, to Pinot Noir sparkling wines and how climate change has affected the production of this grape.