If you follow this blog, chances are you will have read my book Bordeaux Bootcamp, The Insider Tasting Guide to Bordeaux Basics. If you have, thank you, if not what are you waiting for? Buy or download your copy on Amazon here. 

Bordeaux Bootcamp was written as a basic introduction to the area and a preparation for a Bordeaux wine tour. I give it to clients as homework before they join me for a Bordeaux wine tour. It’s a quick easy read, but perhaps it whets your appetite to learn more about the region and the diversity of wines it offers. Chances are it’ll be a while before you next visit Bordeaux, so if you do want to learn more, I have the answer for you.

Fellow ‘Brit in Bordeaux’ Jane Anson, Bordeaux editor for Decanter Magazine, has produced a seminal work about the region called Inside Bordeaux: The châteaux, their wines and the terroir.

It’s an impressive tome, over 700 pages with 29 photos and 58 full-colour highly detailed maps, including six sections of very cool fold-out maps. It is not all theory, but is full of insights that you only get from living here, as  Jane has for 17 years. She knows the region, its wines and more importantly its wine makers, intimately. 

She is passionate about terroir and their microclimates, a subject easily lost in an image of Bordeaux associated with expensive wines, iconic names and classifications. There’s a lot of variation in terroir across Bordeaux due to its size, but also within the appellations themselves. Jane delves deep into this subject helped by the new maps, created with experts led by Cornelis van Leeuwen of Bordeaux’s Vine and Wine Science University.

Inside Bordeaux is not just theory; her experience of tasting across the appellations and vintages makes this an accessible and useable guide. It’s not only about the big guns. You’ll discover underrated properties and wine makers. She explains why particular wines taste the way they do and much more. It’s an essential read if you want to understand the world’s most famous wine region and the perfect book if you want to put this newfound down-time to good use. 

Inside Bordeaux is published by London wine merchant Berry Brothers and Rudd, who are as well known for their excellent wine school as for their range of wines.

It is a beautiful book, just having it on your coffee table will make you feel like a Bordeaux insider and will help you work up a thirst for some of the Bordeaux wines she writes about so knowledgeably.

If you have enjoyed this post please sign up here  to receive future blog posts directly to your in box. If you would like to learn more about Wine and Wellness, buy your copy of The Drinking Woman’s Diet here and to learn more about Bordeaux, buy your copy of Bordeaux Bootcamp here.