Canadian-born photographer Ian Lloyd has combined with Melbourne-based writer Rita Erlich to publish the best photographic record yet created of the wine regions that surround the city of Melbourne. Titled Around Melbourne, the book is a coffee-table format that numbers four in a series that already includes Margaret River, Hunter Valley and Barossa Valley. Dominated by a large number of photographs full-page and larger, the book presents the natural, historical and viticultural landscapes of the Mornington Peninsula, the Yarra Valley, Geelong, Sunbury and Macedon Ranges, plus a series of portraits of the regions’ more important winemakers and artists. More than simply a photographic representation of the wine industry, the book ably reveals how wine fits into the cultural identity of each region, while Erlich’s easy-reading text places wine into its historical and contemporary context. Around Melbourne retails for $49.95. It’s available in all good bookstores.
