Superplonk 1998 - Softcover

Gluck, Malcolm

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0340666242 ISBN 13: 9780340666241

Publisher: Coronet Books, 1997

Synopsis

This is the 1998 edition of Malcolm Gluck's supermarket wine guide. He examines the wine on offer at Asda, Budgens, Co-op, Kwik Save, Marks and Spencer, Morrisons, Safeway, Sainsbury's, Sommerfield, Tesco, and Waitrose and gives his opinion on the best value for money.

About this title

Review:

Malcolm Gluck's latest report on the wine shelves of the nation's supermarket chains is the summer edition, produced as a result of demand from his readership due to the incursion of many new wines into the supermarkets during the early and middle parts of the year. It is essentially a supplement to the main winter edition. Even so, it indicates Gluck's phenomenal energy. Whatever else he may be, he is primarily a machine for turning wine into tasting notes. And what notes--characteristically energetic and eccentric, fizzing exuberantly like champagne bubbles. Under the electron microscope of his palate, familiar wine tastes are magnified into startlingly vivid forms, a number (it must be said) being impressionistic to the point of surrealism. "A great big soppy broth of a wine." "A decent, but delayed, finish of warm coal." "Like tasting a dead librarian." Well, we get the picture, sort of. But the chief value of the book lies in Gluck's ingenious (but obvious, really) system of points. He grades from 1 to 20, a 1 being a wine the producer of which "should be slung in prison", a 20 a "toweringly brilliant world-class wine of self-evident style and individuality." There are no 1s or 20s here: a few lucky 17s or 18s and the odd mean-spirited 10 or shameful 8. The ratings reflect not only quality but also value for money. As always, Superplonk is an invaluable guide for the supermarket wine shopper. --Robin Davidson

Review:

'An impressive and accessible guide to what's really worth drinking' - Observer 'this guide to the best wines in supermarkets and the high street had developed into something of a British institution... An almost indispensible companion.' - Good Book Guide 'If you are a wine enthusiast whose inclination on finding an exciting bottle is to wish to share it with the world and sing its praises from the rooftops, Malcolm Gluck is your man' - Newcastle Journal 'The Nick Hornby of the wine world' - Birmingham Post

About this edition

• Publisher: Coronet Books
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0340666242
• ISBN 13: 9780340666241
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 320