Andrew Caillard MW. The Australian Ark
Let me state from the outset: I am in awe of what my friend Andrew Caillard MW has achieved with his three-volume opus, The Australian Ark.
I now understand why I seldom see him.
It is simply the most comprehensive and detailed history of wine in Australia that has ever been written, by a wide margin.
He’s been working on this massive task—on and off—for nearly 20 years, and the three-volume set runs to more than 350,000 words.
It is simply the most comprehensive and detailed history of wine in Australia that has ever been written, by a wide margin.
It’s doubtful whether any other country outside the ‘Old World’ has anything comparable.
Caillard is a master of wine, a wine writer, author of many other books, taster, former wine auctioneer, sometime wine producer, and all-round wine expert, but the writing is just one part of this audacious work. What takes the breath away immediately upon picking it up, is the quality of the production and the beauty of the presentation. The range and depth of photographs and illustrations is striking and the look of the books is sumptuous. Tens of thousands of dollars were paid in publishing rights alone.
These volumes constitute a work of art in themselves and this is no surprise as Caillard has a well-developed aesthetic sense. He is an accomplished painter into the bargain (and some of his canvases appear in the Ark).
That the author has a powerful
This Article was originally published on The Real Review
