The English wine author and wine critic Hugh Johnson (born 1939) is one of the most successful wine writers in the world. He is recognised as both a wine expert and a great stylist. He attended a boarding school in Rugby in the UK and studied English at King's College, Cambridge. He later worked for Vogue magazine, House & Garden. As successor to founder André Simon (1877-1970), he became editor of the magazine "Wine and Food" for several years and later General Secretary of the International Wine & Food Society. His first book "Wine" was published in 1966, and the "Great Wine Atlas" published in 1971 (subsequent edition "The New Wine Atlas") became his most successful work, in which all the wine-growing regions of the world are described in detail with maps.
This was followed by "Wein genießen", "Wie Wein entsteht - Von den Göttern geschenkt, von den Menschen gemacht", "Atlas der deutschen Weine" (together with co-author Stuart Pigott), "Atlas der französischen Weine" (with co-author Hubrecht Duijker), "Der große Johnson" and "The World Atlas of Wine" (2001 - with co-author Jancis Robinson). The wine guide "The Little Johnson for Wine Connoisseurs" describes and rates all the important wines of the world and was first published in 1977. Since then, an updated edition has been published every year. According to the cover text, it is the best-selling wine guide in the world. Based on his book "Wine History - from Dionysus to Rothschild", a 13-part television series was created in the USA under the title "Vintage: A History of Wine".
Johnson has already won several GAD awards (Gastronomie Akademie Deutschland). His books have reached a total print run of over 3.5 million copies. In addition to many wine books and publications, Johnson has also written works on trees and horticulture and has in-depth knowledge of dendrology. He is the director of the world-famous Premier Cru Classé vineyard Château Latour in the Médoc and co-owner of the Australian vineyard Coldstream Hills. Incidentally, he is a fierce opponent of wine ratings with points. In "Little Johnson", from one to four stars are used: * = simple quality for every day, ** = above average, *** = well-known, famous and **** = first-class, sophisticated. In his detailed wine reviews, Johnson uses a 12-level verbal scheme, ranging from "one tasting and never again" to "buy the vineyard".
Image: By Dhasler - Own work, Public Domain, Link
