Tom Stevenson

For other people named Thomas Stevenson, see Thomas Stevenson (disambiguation).

Tom Stevenson
Tom Stevenson in March 2006
Tom Stevenson in March 2006
BornTunbridge Wells, England
OccupationAuthor, wine writer, wine critic, wine judge
NationalityBritish

Tom Stevenson (born 1951) is a British wine writer and critic.

Stevenson is regarded as an expert on Champagne and Alsace wine.[1][2][3][4] He has written 23 books.[5]

Career

[edit]

Stevenson began writing for Decanter magazine in 1981, and during the mid-1980s he started The Sunday Telegraph Good Wine Guide.[6][7] By 1991 was also writing for Wine & Spirit.[8]

Stevenson's 1986 book Champagne and 1993 book The Wines of Alsace were very positively received.[9][10] The former exposed the practice of In 1998, he wrote Christie's World Encyclopedia of Champagne & Sparkling Wine. This book published a 17th-century document for the first time proving the English used the secondary fermentation process before the French were claimed to have invented champagne,[11][12] although describing this as the British invented champagne has been criticised as unscholarly.[13] Stevenson's The Sotheby's Wine Encyclopedia, first published in 1988, had sold 750,000 copies in more than a dozen languages as of 2011.[7][11] Despite receiving some very positive reviews,[14][15][16][17] it has been criticised for its accuracy.[18][19] In addition to the books authored by Stevenson, he conceived and edited the Wine Report.[20] It was published annually between 2003 and 2008, and was cancelled as the high fees of having forty-five, occasionally notable authors made the book unprofitable.[21]

From its inception in 2004 to 2012, Stevenson held the chair of Champagne panel of the Decanter World Wine Awards. He has judged at wine competitions in Australia, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, South Africa, the UK and the USA. In 2014 Stevenson started the Champagne & Sparkling Wine World Championships, which as of 2024 he chairs.[6][22][23] Writer Huon Hooke has described the competition as "arguably the world’s most important venue for judging sparkling wine."[24] Wines are reviewed by the same three judges every year for consistency over a period of almost two weeks. Until his death in 2019, these judges were Tony Jordan and Essi Avellan.[25]

Stevenson has repeatedly presented the Christie's Champagne Masterclass in London.[26]

He has written for wine-pages.com, including contributing a "Wine aromas and flavours" resource which was praised by Patrick Comiskey in the LA Times.[27][28] As of 2024 he writes for The World of Fine Wine magazine.[5]

Views on wine

[edit]

Stevenson cites The World Atlas of Wine by Hugh Johnson as an early influence on his attitude towards wine.[7]

Stevenson believes the parellada, macabeo and xarel·lo grape varieties are not are suited for the second fermentation used in the traditional method of champagne production.[29][30]

Accolades

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In 1987 Stevenson was elected a confrère oenophile of the Confrérie Saint Etienne, when he was the sole person amongst the Alsace wine producers and other experts present to identify a 50-year-old wine made from the Silvaner grape variety.[31]

He has been nominated for "Wine Writer of the Year" at least three times and has won the Wine Literary Award, America's lifetime achievement award for wine writing.[5][32]

Selected publications

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  • Stevenson, Tom (1986). Champagne. Utrecht: HES. ISBN 90-6194-166-0. OCLC 905483538.
  • Stevenson, Tom (1993). The Wines of Alsace. ISBN 0-571-14953-7.
  • Stevenson, Tom (2003). Christie's World Encyclopedia of Champagne & Sparkling Wine. Christie's International Group (Revised ed.). Bath: Absolute. ISBN 978-1-899791-89-7. OCLC 50434255.
  • Stevenson, Tom (2003). 101 Essential Tips: Wine. London: DK Publishers. ISBN 978-0-7894-9685-0. OCLC 55940364.
  • Stevenson, Tom (2007). The Sotheby's wine encyclopedia (4th Edition Revised ed.). London: Dorling Kindersley. ISBN 978-1-4053-2656-8. OCLC 338965262.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Hall, Allan (28 December 2007). "Champagne land values to bubble upwards". The Scotsman. Archived from the original on 29 December 2007.
  2. ^ Hawthorne, Mark (10 November 2011). "Vintage Moet's cachet dialled up to 11". The Age. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
  3. ^ Crosariol, Beppi (6 September 2011). "Surprise! One of Canada's best wines is from Nova Scotia". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
  4. ^ Liem, Peter (September–October 2000). "Book Review: Everything Alsace" (PDF). Riesling Report. p. 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 February 2005.
  5. ^ a b c "Author Bio: Tom Stevenson". The World of Fine Wine. Archived from the original on 20 May 2024. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
  6. ^ a b Stevenson, Tom. "History". Champagne & Sparkling Wine World Championships. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
  7. ^ a b c Stevenson, Tom (28 November 2011). "On Sotheby's 5th Edition". GuildSomm. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
  8. ^ Fisher, Lawrence M (25 December 1991). "Can California Sparkling Wine Taste Like Champagne? The Quest Goes On". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
  9. ^ "Wine Report: Tom Stevenson". Champagne A.R. Lenoble. Archived from the original on 5 July 2008.
  10. ^ "Tom Stevenson Interview". vynai.com. Lietuvos ryte. 3 November 2006. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
  11. ^ a b "Decanter World Wine Awards: Judges". Decanter. Archived from the original on 10 December 2008. Retrieved 11 July 2008.
  12. ^ Eagles, Jim (2 June 2007). "England: English wine comes of age". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
  13. ^ Edwards, Michael (20 January 2014). "A review of Christie's World Encyclopedia of Champagne & sparkling wine (Absolute Press)". TimAtkin.com. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
  14. ^ Atkin, Tim (11 December 2005). "The word on the vine". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
  15. ^ Gray, W Blake (8 December 2005). "Train your brain with these tomes". SFGate. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
  16. ^ "Books: A Holiday Hamper Of Glowing Gift Titles". Time. 19 December 1988. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
  17. ^ McIntyre, Dave (4 January 2015). "An old wine reference guide holds up well, 26 years later". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 4 January 2015. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
  18. ^ Pendock, Neil (2008). Sour Grapes. Cape Town: NB Publishers. p. 41. ISBN 978-0-624-04613-4. OCLC 1359393807.
  19. ^ Hooke, Huon (6 December 2011). "A good year, cover to cover". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
  20. ^ Robinson, Jancis (21 November 2003). "Vintage 2003 wine books". JancisRobinson.com. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
  21. ^ Peskett, Stuart (25 August 2009). "Bleak future for Wine Report as publisher pulls plug". Decanter. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
  22. ^ "The Judges". Champagne & Sparkling Wine World Championships. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
  23. ^ Robinson, Jancis (20 September 2014). "Best champagnes and sparkling wines". Financial Times. Retrieved 12 July 2024. {{cite news}}: Check |archive-url= value (help)
  24. ^ Hooke, Huon (12 September 2015). "New Zealand gets some food for thought from Tom Stevenson". The Real Review. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
  25. ^ Siddle, Richard (9 July 2024). "Tom Stevenson takes us behind the scenes of 10 years of CSWWC". The Buyer. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
  26. ^ "Christie's Education: Masterclasses". Christie's. Archived from the original on 3 August 2008.
  27. ^ Comiskey, Patrick (22 February 2006). "Swirl, sniff, sip, search and blog". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
  28. ^ Stevenson, Tom (2 March 2003). "Wine aromas and flavours". wine-pages.com. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
  29. ^ Fox, Nick (19 June 2009). "The Wrong Grape Can Make Sparkling Wines Seem Flat". "Diner's Journal" Blog. The New York Times. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
  30. ^ Moore, Victoria (11 July 2009). "Wine". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
  31. ^ Stevenson, Tom (2005). Werner, Gary; Tuite, Simon (eds.). Wine Report 2006. Wine Report. New York: DK. p. 39. ISBN 978-0756613204. OCLC 69944925.
  32. ^ "Wine Report 2008". DK. Archived from the original on 4 October 2007. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
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