In the 6th edition, it gets one paragraph.
No doubt. And in the current global wine market, how important is the Paso Robles wine region? I assume the WAOW coverage depends in large part on which wine regions get significant international retail distribution. If you went into a typical large wine retail store in London, Paris, Rome, Sydney, etc., is it likely one would find on the shelves wine from the Paso Robles region? My guess is that it’s pretty unlikely that PR wines get significant international distribution.
Bruce
I think that’s right, Bruce. Although the book definitely reflects the traditional English vantage point. I bet to an American there’s a surprising amount of coverage of Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, whose wines historically were better represented in the UK than they are here.
Actually in Europe in the wine-producing countries you can go to a wine shop (even large ones) and not find a single wine from the US. And in case you do, it’s most likely going to be some sort of mass-produced wine, or at least a really large producer.
In other countries there’s a bit more choice, but it’s still not significant.
Here is e.g. a search for Tablas Creek in France or Belgium: only one vintage of one cuvée on offer in the whole country.
The availability is much better in UK or Germany.
But no hits whatsoever in Switzerland (which has quality retailers so it’s quite surprising), Italy or Spain.
I see the same thing in Brasil where you can now find grower Champagnes and bio-dynamic orange wines from the Loire and Italy but I’ve NEVER seen any Cali wine. I suspect it’s a price and value for money thing.
Bordeaux gets thirty pages and the Central Coast two pages or less?
And in the Sotheby’s Wine Encyclopedia, 5th Edition, 2011they give two pages to SLO, Santa Clara and Santa Barbara Counties combined. They list, from the Paso area, Tablas, Eberle, L’Aventure and Wild Horse.
Yeah, I thought it was a bit much for the Central Coast as well 
Seriously, I don’t see where’s the beef. That ratio doesn’t seem outlandish to me.
Bordeaux is 10 times as big (in terms of planted area), has 38 appellations to 3 for the central coast (at least for the 2 pages mentioned), its history goes way back, it is of global importance and known and traded the world over, etc. There’s just no comparison.
You sound like a Francophile to me. ![[snort.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/b/bdc3944606213c4dca6c1169cf0a166c8bc4f8c9.gif "snort.gif"){kind=small}
Paso is making some of the highest quality wine in the world at affordable prices. The Paso area probably has 250 or more wineries and I am guessing the SLO area over 400.
If it is 10x as large you would expect 20 pages not over 60.
I think my example with Wine Searcher above gave a good example of Paso Robles’ “reach” in the grand scheme of things.
Let me put it another way: if the Central Coast gets 2 pages, how many should Napa get? Considering their relative size and importance.
If it is 10x as large you would expect 20 pages not over 60.
It’s 30, not 60.
Henri says that if no one is buying the book for use other than a doorstop, ce n’est pas une grosse affaire.
Mary,
They may need to work on their coverage, but let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater. I recommend the Atlas to anyone who starting to be interested in wine, I think it’s a great first wine book. I still refer to the maps occasionally, and my original copy of the Atlas is more than 30 years old (I have a recent one, too).
Have you sent Jancis an email?
I still haven’t seen the current version, so I wouldn’t know what to say. Guillaume’s copy is out of date.
How does Paso do in the Oxford Companion?
While the California central coast has gotten plenty of exposure, I’m still not sure most oenophiles are aware of the significance of the area. I can’t say with any certainty how widely distributed Paso Robles wines are throughout the US (I assume virtually none internationally) but as a native Californian and someone who has visited Paso many times I’m surprised to see the lack of attention it yields. A good deal of wine publications and critics have done a lot to promote the area for good reason - the California central coast produces world class wine. I genuinely believe that if Napa is the New World’s Bordeaux, then Paso Robles and the Central Coast is the Rhone/Sud.
It goes beyond Paso Robles as well even though it’s easily the hallmark of the CC. The Santa Lucia Highlands, Santa Ynez (incl. Santa Rita Hills) and other areas of San Luis Obispo/Santa Barbara counties will prove to be premier wine growing regions in their own right (if they haven’t already). We see the expression of terroir reach up and down the coast and there are some micro-climes in Santa Lucia Highlands that may be the Northern Rhone to Paso Robles Southern Rhone (showing the more restrained elements of Syrah). The Santa Lucia Range likely present so many other opportunities in the future as the reach of winemaking grows in the region.
So there’s no doubt in my mind that it deserves more than 2 pages. It’s not even close. I own one of the editions myself and was very disappointed in the lack of information regarding the area. It is indeed a geographic reference in many ways, but consider the sheer size of the central coast region. The Paso Robles wine region (beyond west and east) itself contains many micro-climes and extremes that dramatically alter the character of the wines.
Tablas Creek in particular receives significantly more rain and colder temperatures (including frost) than virtually any other estate in Paso. Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre all show significantly different character from estate to estate due to the shifts in exposure and elevations throughout the area. Even Cabernet Sauvignon which has generally struggled in the area shows beautifully from the L’Aventure estate and to a lesser degree, Viking Estate (Near Glenrose Vineyards).
In the end it’s not a zero-sum game anyways which is the point I believe needs to be made. There’s no reason for any contemporary wine literature to have so little information on such a significant wine growing region even if it’s reach has been limited thus far. Those of us who have experienced it first hand certainly understand the importance.
So, people who are ‘in to’ something think a book with worldwide coverage should have more depth on the thing they are ‘in to’…
In other news…
Significance of wine publications aside, when a Paso Robles winery wins a prestigious #1 WS Wine of the Year award in 2010 I think it’s time to recognize the region as something more than an area that some people are “in to”.
Don’t forget that Wine Enthusiast named it Wine Region of the year! We all know that everyone on this board waits with bated breath to find out which wines/regions WS and WE think are the best…
The objective and preference of any particular wine taster is radically different from that of wine educators and publications. Any individual is welcome to have their own personal preference to any varietal or wine region. However, the nature of wine writing/educating itself demands a totally different perspective.
Paso Robles and the California Central Coast is easily the most significant emerging wine region in the world. I don’t believe it’s unfair to expect published, well-respected wine authors to give proper recognition of the region, is it?
Good grief, it’s an atlas… it’s a coffee table book for people who like maps and geography in addition to wine. It’s a bunch of maps of geographic regions that produce wine, with some explanatory text. The maps are the focus of the book.
Some folks here who admit that they have no use for such a book aren’t happy with its coverage. Oh well. Folks like me who appreciate well-drafted maps think it is a pretty decent book; I suppose that might help explain why it’s in its 7th edtion…
+1.