“Wine and Climate Change: Winemaking in a New World” is a seminal work and is especially recommended for professional, academic, and community library Agricultural Studies reference collections in general, and the personal reading lists of wine connoisseurs in particular.”

“The Wine Collector’s Handbook is a thoroughly sensible, helpful and down-to-earth wine drinker’s guide ”

“Daunting, almost. Far broader, studied and wittily annotated than one might ever imagine for the subject. No whimsy here. Nor is there a provincial slant betraying the author as some wine or food industry insider with an eye on promotion. Johnson-Bell, American-born, French-raised and now residing in London, is ideally suited to this project. Unlike so many New World wine writers, her take is evenly cosmopolitan though just slightly (and rightly) partial to the French. She is the former Editor-in-Chief of Vintage International Magazine in Paris and London and the author of The Wine Collector’s handbook … The beauty here is in its thoroughness … Johnson-Bell has contributed a splendid resource for the novice and the expert”

“Paris’s Vintage Magazine editor, Linda Johnson, has written a guide for those who want to build and stock a wine cellar, but need a little convincing and a lot of good advice. The Wine Collector’s Handbook (The Home Cellar Guide, UK) explains why having a cache of well-chosen and well-stored wine on hand will not only enhance your wine-drinking pleasure, but can also save you money”

“Packed with well-founded advice, written with enthusiasm and intelligence, this is a vey useful and enjoyable book”

“Text Books and Further readings…see our basic reference bibliography: Pairing Wine and Food, by Linda Johnson-Bell”

“If you are thinking of storing wine for more than a few days, you need this book. It is straightforward, intelligent, and very useful. Linda Johnson-Bell peels away the mystique and replaces it with common sense”

“This informative and down-to-earth book makes it fun to stock up your cellar for future pleasure”

“Much has been written about the interrelationships between food and wine. Johnson-Bell approaches the subject from the perspective of a consumer for whom wine is the central focus. The point of matching foods to wines is primarily one of personal taste, but there are some general guidelines to prevent unpleasant clashing of flavors. As the author points out, the growing popularity of non-European cuisines has made food-wine matching even more problematic. Nevertheless, there are some thoughtful ways to go about picking a wine to accompany those enchiladas or Thai dish. Johnson-Bell writes clearly about how food flavours affect the way wine is perceived and vice versa. For those who want simply some prescriptive advice, this book offers long lists of foods matching appropriate wines. Her tables of wine names and the grapes that go into them are also useful references”

““Might a 4200 bottle of wine taste even better if you had paid only 430 and kept that baby tucked away in your wine cellar for a few years, letting the value creep up as the wine aged? In “The Wine Collector’s Handbook”, Linda Johnson shows you how to turn a delightful pastime – the drinking of excellent wine into a skilled hobby. Johnson has written about wine for American, French and British magazines and was the editor and director of Vintage International Magazine in Paris. She also won Le 1997 Prix Louis Marinier, Bordeaux, for wine journalism. She begins with a history of winemaking and its variances between old and new world regions. With complete descriptions of wine terminology – such as “legs”, vivacity, complexion, and fragrance – Johnson explains both the objectivity (that’s where the rice comes in) and the subjectivity (that’s where your preference comes in) of great wine. Vintage is explored in terms of harvest-date perfection and age, and the mystery of vintage charts is revealed. My favourite chapter, the one that sent me hustling to our local fine-wine shop, is “Forming the Collection”, where the various types of collections (French, Australian, Spanish, Washington< California, etc.) were discussed. The volume is complete with lists of the great years and brands, and with examples of what it will cost to start a cellar, based on ready-to-drink wines and on wines that must go through short-, medium-, and long-term aging before reaching their peak”

“An excellent comprehensive reference. A section of the book is devoted to matching foods with several wines and vice-versa. Also included are helpful cheese/wine and mushroom/wine pairings. There is a food to wine and wine to food index”

“This compact and comprehensive work rejects the notion that pairing wine with food is as simplistic as matching red with meat and white with chicken. Rather, it is a dish’s flavors – sweet, sour, spicy, and salty – that must guide wine selection. Using this premise, Johnson-Bell, a wine journalist and panel judge, has written a handy guide explaining the tastes and aromas of wine and food and how this knowledge enhances the enjoyment of both … Useful for everyone from beginning oenophiles to restaurateurs, this is a highly recommended bargain for all collections”

“More experienced wine lovers are especially likely to be attracted by the title to a slim volume, newly published, The Wine Collector’s handbook, by Linda Johnson…It is gratifying that Ms. Johnson pooh-poohs the annual nouveau frenzy, passes over in silence the notion that the enjoyment of fine wine depends in no small part on the shape of the precisely correct glass, and concludes with a useful glossary and listing of regional wine organisations”

“Linda Johnson-Bell (The Wine Collector’s Handbook) extends her wine expertise to the realm of dining in Pairing Wien and Food (Good Food Fine Wine UK). Johnson-Bell, who admits that she never used to pay much attention to food, changed her tune after marring a “foodie”, a restaurateur in London. After new consideration of the art of wine drinking, Johnson-Bell has a new philosophy: “Forget the old meat-pairing rules: Marry the dominant flavour of the dish (usually found in the sauce) to the dominant grape variety and taste of the wine.” Armed with this rule of thumb, Johnson-Bell takes her readers through an informed and interesting international culinary journey, exploring wine tasting, aging, food weight and texture and more”

“Editor’s Choice: match the right wine to any dish with this comprehensive, ready-reference book that lists foods and their complementary wines. Also discusses how and why foods and wines taste as they do and why and how these tastes blend.”