Superplonk 1997 Book

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 DavidsonRead More