The Sotheby's Wine Encyclopedia is a reference work on wine written by Tom Stevenson and published since 1988 by Dorling Kindersley, selling over 600,000 copies in 14 languages.The Sotheby's Wine Encyclopedia has a stated aim to map and describe "every appellation, official and unofficial", of which there were more than 4,000 in total by 1997, making it an industry standard wine reference and required reading for the Master of Wine, Master Sommelier and Cape Wine Master examinations. The contents include hard data, technical information, tables and ancillary explanations are compartmentalized from the flow of mainstream text, with profiles of nearly 2,000 wineries, and recommendation of more than 6,000 producers.Frequently compared to The Oxford Companion to Wine, The Sotheby's Wine Encyclopedia along with The World Atlas of Wine, is often cited to be among the most notable books on wine today. Tim Atkin MW, wine correspondent for The Observer considers it to be one of the two most essential wine reference books in English. Weighed in by San Francisco Chronicle at 5 pounds, 11 ounces, its review states, "What makes it enjoyable to browse is Stevenson's openness as well as the almost hidden inclusion of short, provocative essays". Source: Wikipedia (en)