Little Johnson 2027: Wine Guide Celebrates Its 50th Edition
For many wine drinkers, the center of the wine world is, of course, themselves. Right after that—depending on their personal preferences—comes either their own region or one that produces outrageously expensive wines. Seen in this light, the anniversary edition of the book *Little Johnson*, edited by Margaret Rand, is once again something that brings us back down to earth. For the world of wine is—even if, for a variety of reasons, it’s currently shrinking once again—vast. I already wrote a lot of the basics about this publication—which has now been published worldwide for the 50th time (in Germany, we’re lagging a bit behind and are only on the 48th edition)—a year ago; feel free to read the first part of my raving about it.
The editor’s foreword is more than worth reading. It’s like with estate wines from top vineyards: if I like the foreword (the estate wine), it certainly won’t get any worse in the details (the single-vineyard wines…). And that’s exactly how it is. I like almost everything she writes, but in sentences like this one, you can really sense the subtly witty British humor: “We’re experimenting with pét-nat and orange wines, and with a little luck, we’ve broken free from the tyranny of critics’ ratings and their point systems.” So writes the critic who, of course, also assigns ratings in her best-selling wine guide—for wineries, she gives “an inevitably rather rough classification” ranging from one to four stars, which spans from “simple, everyday quality” to “above average” and “well-known, famous” all the way up to “first-class, sophisticated, expensive.” Since the book is printed in two colors—red and black—this also allows for additional information, because “colored stars are awarded to wines that, in our experience, are particularly good in their respective price ranges; this applies to good everyday wines as well as to luxury vintages.” It sounds more complicated than it is!
An Overview of the Global Wine Scene
Providing an overview of the global wine scene in just 512 pages requires brief and concise assessments—which, in principle, is achieved quite well. The Little Johnson was and remains an encyclopedia with easily accessible information organized into two chapters, which I’ll call “Theory” and “Practice” for simplicity’s sake. In the “Theory” section, you can look up grape varieties, get recommendations on wine and food pairings, learn some technical wine terminology, and find tips on the right serving temperature. It also includes a summary table of wine vintages. Then comes the “Practice” section—naturally, also on good old paper and not in bottles. This is the world of wine—from France (the largest chapter; they don’t know anything about that in England) through Italy and Germany, as well as other European countries, to the eastern Mediterranean and North Africa, and then out into the wider world—the U.S., Canada, South America, Australia/New Zealand, and South Africa. This can’t be done without making some sacrifices, even though there’s a great deal of information included. It’s certainly a shame, of course, when the preceding chapter, “Twelve Wines for 2027,” recommends Axel Pauly’s Lieserer Niederberg-Helden Riesling (Mosel, Germany), and you can’t find anything about it in the section on Germany. Absolutely nothing: no information on the winemaker, and not even the vintage in the serving recommendation. That’s a bummer, isn’t it?
Of course, there are other things missing as well that really should be there. Of course, there’s still the entry on Goldriesling that was missing last year (sorry, gotta have a little fun), but (seriously) also, for example, the one on Grk. It appears in the foreword (and in some articles), but not in the alphabetical section on Croatia. For those who still want to know: here’s some information about this rare (and delicious) white wine variety. What’s unfortunately missing entirely is a visit to the Algarve. Simply ignoring the wineries and wines there in the Portugal chapter is more than a shame. But there’s supposed to be a new edition coming out next year—we’ll see then…
Little Johnson 2027: 50th Anniversary Edition
Editor: Margaret Rand
Publication date: September 2, 2026
€24.99 as a book, €20.99 (e.g., in the Kindle version)
ISBN: 978-3965846524
Hardcover, 512 pages
