Guides: Alumni Travel Reading: Vineyards, Vintages, & Chateaux

Food and Drink

The Oxford Companion to Wine (Oxford Companions) by Jancis Robinson; Julia Harding
Publication Date: 2015
This wine book provides comprehensive coverage on all aspects of winemaking, and puts wine, winemaking and wine drinking into historical perspective (from Franklin).

Anthropology of Food is a peer reviewed bi-lingual web journal in French and English. It aims to publish research in sociology and
anthropology of food. This journal is published by a network of European academic researchers sharing intellectual interests for food studies.

Read the web journal here.

Vineyards

Bordeaux. Image by Nhan Nguyen. Obtained on flickr with a Creative Commons license.

Vignoble Château Segonzac, à Blaye, Aquitaine. Image by hebdromadaires. Obtained on flickr with a Creative Commons license.

Château de Cadillac

Cadillac-Accès. Photographer was unlisted. Image obtained on Wikimedia Commons with a Creative Commons license.

The Château de Cadillac website provides a comprehensive and interactive overview of this famous monument of the region. The site includes history, links to practical information about visiting (including a link to the town of Cadillac’s website), resources for teachers, and a great social media page that features exhibits and goings-on in the castle (including le chat du château!).

Visit the website here.

Vineyards, Vintages, & Chateaux

Vignoble Château Segonzac, à Blaye, Aquitaine. Image by hebdromadaires. Obtained on flickr with Creative Commons license.

Bordeaux

Complete Bordeaux by Stephen Brook
ISBN: 1845337077
Publication Date: 2012
The wines of Bordeaux have never enjoyed a greater reputation and are universally recognized as among the world's finest. In this new edition of his prize-winning survey, Stephen Brook, a foremost expert on Bordeaux, provides an unrivaled survey of the region and its wines. As well as incisive portraits of the leading properties and their wines, he provides a detailed look at the region's lesser-known areas and their top chateaux. Providing essential reference to each appellation, from Medoc through Graves to Pomerol and Saint-Emilion, Brook examines the full range of wines available, from the most reputable producers to the lesser-known, up-and-coming properties. Each commune and appellation is explored in detail, along with an analysis of stylistic and wine-making issues affecting more than 1,000 significant wine producers. Brook's definitive study concludes with a fully revised and updated vintage guide (from Amazon).
Bordeaux and Its Wines by Charles Cocks; Edouard Feret
ISBN: 1247338134
Publication Date: 2011
Created as a directory by Charles Cocks and Michel-Édouard Féret in 1846, this book is regarded as a classic reference work on Bordeaux wines and the most comprehensive source on the wineries of the Bordeaux region. The first edition of the work was published as Bordeaux et ses vins in 1850 (Wikipedia).

Bordeaux Wines

Michael Fagan takes us on this memorable journey through the historic vineyards of Bordeaux in 2005. Discover why this region produces wine with such a prestigious worldwide reputation. Explore the wines, the people, and the Chateaux of this famous appellation (from YouTube).

Bibliographer

Selected and Annotated By:

Victoria Karasic
Digital Literacy and Research Librarian
vkarasic @ pobox.upenn.edu

Website Edited By:

Kelsey LeClair

Specialist in Classical Studies

Administrative Assistant, Penn Libraries

kleclair @ pobox.upenn.edu

For more information visit the Penn Alumni Travel website.

Sights of Bordeaux

Bordeaux. Image by eidole. Obtained on flickr with Creative Commons license.

Bordeaux. Image by Elodie Ruedas. Obtained on flickr with Creative Commons license.

Poetry and Prose

Vie de Bordeaux by Pitts Sanborn
Call Number: PS3537.A6144 V5
Publication Date: 1916
Pitts Sanborn was an American music critic and writer who is often regarded as one of the original American voices of the 1920s and 1930s. This book is a collection of his poetry that focuses on scenes from Bordeaux during World War I.
Treachery in Bordeax by Jean-Pierre Alaux; Noël Balen
Publication Date: 2014
Treachery in Bordeaux is the first book in the beloved Winemaker Detective novels, the "addictive" French series featuring master winemaker Benjamin Cooker and his sidekick Virgile. When some barrels turn at the prestigious grand cru Moniales Haut-Brion wine estate, Cooker and Virgile start to investigate. Is it negligence or sabotage? They search the city and wine region for answers, welcoming readers into the underworld of a global luxury industry. Grab a glass of your favorite Bordeaux and delve into a world of money, deceit, inheritance, greed, and fine wine (from Amazon).

Local Nobility

Eleanor of Aquitaine by Alison Weir
Call Number: DA209.E6 W45 2000
ISBN: 0345405404
Publication Date: 2000
Renowned in her time for being the most beautiful woman in Europe, the wife of two kings and mother of three, Eleanor of Aquitaine was one of the great heroines of the Middle Ages. At a time when women were regarded as little more than chattel, Eleanor managed to defy convention as she exercised power in the political sphere and crucial influence over her husbands and sons. In this beautifully written biography, Alison Weir paints a vibrant portrait of this truly exceptional woman, and provides new insights into her intimate world (from the publisher).