Wine Tasting with Julia Harding for The World Atlas of Wine

Julia Harding is coming to The Bookshop on Wednesday 28 October for an evening of wine tastings, all built around the latest edition of The World Atlas of Wine. If you've got a bottle of something on the go and a curiosity about where it actually comes from, this is one of those nights that'll give you a proper map to work from.

The Atlas itself is a bit of a landmark in the wine world. First published in 1971, it's still widely regarded as the most authoritative wine reference work there is, and this ninth edition keeps that going while bringing it up to date. There are 18 brand-new maps added to the cartography, and the text has been overhauled to reflect how the wine world looks today—including the impact of climate change and global sustainability initiatives, two things that are shaping what ends up in our glasses more than ever.

Julia Harding is the one leading the evening, and she's a Master of Wine with a long track record in wine writing and editing. For more than 20 years she was Jancis Robinson's senior editor at JancisRobinson.com, and she co-authored Wine Grapes. She was also lead editor of the fifth edition of The Oxford Companion to Wine, and she's been editing the maps of The World Atlas of Wine since the seventh edition, so she knows this particular book inside out. Her recent honours include being named Wines of Portugal Personality of 2022 and winning the 67 Pall Mall Global Wine Communicator award for long-form writing in 2025.

It's an evening of tastings, so you'll be tasting your way through the regions the Atlas covers. The event is at The Bookshop, Topping and Company Booksellers, 1 Museum Street, York YO1 7DT, on Wednesday 28 October. It starts at 7pm, with doors opening at 6.30pm.