Simon, André L.
What About Wine?
1953, London, Newman Neame
First edition
What About Wine? is among André Simon’s last personal and reflective works. Unlike his bibliographies or technical manuals, it is a graceful meditation on wine, written at the twilight of his career.
The book takes the form of a question-and-answer dialogue, offering Simon’s most intimate and essential explanations for the curious reader. He weighs the aristocracy of Graves against that of Médoc, dismisses the notion of “white claret” as “sheer nonsense,” and shares his considered opinions on Burgundy - better than claret with venison, though harder to obtain in good quality. From there he moves across Italy, Spain, Portugal, Germany, and beyond, discussing table wines, Liebfraumilch, brandies, and sherries. In this compact yet generous booklet, Simon guides both novice and expert through a lifetime’s journey across the key wine regions of his era. Unmissable.
A rare gem where André Simon lets his hair down - signed, gifted with flair, and wrapped in a gentleman’s art. Proof that even the smallest booklet can sparkle with wisdom, wit, and good wine.
Pp. [1] f.e., 56, [8] photografic plates between 8-9, [1] r.e.
Hard cover with unclipped dust jacket. Beige boards with gilt imprint on the cover, showing two men with a wine cask on wheels. Dust Jacket printed in black and red, with illustration of a farm. Presentation plate on inside cover "With the Secretary's Compliments - The Food and Wine Society". Front endpapaer inscribed by the author "for Jerome K Doolan, from Andres L Simon". Title page within decorative border, with frontispiece (facing plate) depicting the grape harvest. 8 un-numbered pages of photograph plates. Woodcut head- and tailpieces, and illustrations in the text by David Gentleman (illustrator), in the same stile of the frontispiece. A fine, signed copy.
Dimensions (inches): 7.5 x 5 x 0.5
André L. Simon (1877–1970), French-born wine merchant, writer, and founder of the Wine & Food Society; major 20th-c. wine authority.
David Gentleman (b. 1930), British artist and illustrator, famed for book designs, stamps, engravings, and public art.
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