Author: Alan Deutschman Publisher: Crown ISBN: 0767914600 Category : Travel Languages : en Pages : 242
Book Description
When acclaimed journalist Alan Deutschman came to the California wine country as the lucky house guest of very rich friends, he was surprised to discover a raging controversy. A civil war was being fought between the Napa Valley, which epitomized elitism, prestige and wealthy excess, and the neighboring Sonoma Valley, a rag-tag bohemian enclave so stubbornly backward that rambunctious chickens wandered freely through town. But the antics really began when new-money invaders began pushing out Sonoma’s poets and painters to make way for luxury resorts and trophy houses that seemed a parody of opulence. A Tale of Two Valleys captures these stranger-than-fiction locales with the wit of a Tom Wolfe novel and uncorks the hilarious absurdities of life among the wine world’s glitterati. Deutschman found that on the weekends the wine country was like a bunch of gracious hosts smiling upon their guests, but during the week the families feuded with each other and their neighbors like the Hatfields and McCoys. Napa was a comically exclusive club where the super-rich fought desperately to get in. Sonoma’s colorful free spirits and iconoclasts were wary of their bohemia becoming the next playground for the rapacious elite. So, led by a former taxicab driver and wine-grape picker, a cheese merchant, and an artist who lived in a barn surrounded by wild peacocks, they formed a populist revolt to seize power and repel the rich invaders. Deutschman’s cast of characters brims with eccentrics, egomaniacs, and a mysterious man in black who crashed the elegant Napa Valley Wine Auction before proceeding to pay a half-million dollars for a single bottle. What develops is nothing less than a battle for the good life, a clash between old and new, the struggle for the soul of one of America’s last bits of paradise. A dishy glimpse behind the scenes of a West Coast wonderland, A Tale of Two Valleys makes for intoxicating reading.
Author: Luke Whittall Publisher: ISBN: 9781770503168 Category : Cooking Languages : en Pages : 0
Book Description
"Valleys of Wine is the first comprehensive history of BC wine since the early 1980s. Wine consumers in BC or enthusiasts anywhere in the world looking to learn about this exciting new region will get a taste of BC's wine history to swirl, sip, and savour."--
Author: George M. Walker & John Peragine Publisher: Arcadia Publishing ISBN: 1439662541 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 128
Book Description
The Cucamonga Valley was once America's largest wine-producing region, crafting quality vintages decades before Napa and Sonoma. Secondo Guasti, an ambitious and enterprising Italian immigrant, established the region's first vineyard in 1901, and others soon followed. Wineries like the Vai Brothers, Padre, Galleano, Brookside and more made the valley the epicenter of a burgeoning industry. Not even Prohibition could halt production. While domestic breweries and distilleries shuttered, Cucamonga's brandy and sherry continued to be legally made for culinary and medicinal purposes. Yet by the late 1970s, harvests had dwindled and vineyards vanished. Urbanization, vine disease and property taxes effectively ended production. Today, local vintners and wine enthusiasts are reviving the region's proud heritage. Authors George M. Walker and John Peragine uncork a legacy too delectable to die.
Author: Michelle Mandro Publisher: Cameron ISBN: 9781944903183 Category : Biography & Autobiography Languages : en Pages : 0
Book Description
California's iconic Napa Valley, one of the world's premier viticultural regions, is known for its undulating vineyards, historic wineries nestled in the trees, and quaint towns that dot the countryside. It is also home to many amazing women who have made names for themselves with wineries and boutique businesses throughout the area. Wine Country Women of Napa Valley celebrates 65 of these leading ladies, showcasing their accomplishments, lifestyles, treasured family recipes, and of course, their favorite wines and pairings. This sumptuous gallery glimpses inside the lives of such luminaries as Violet Grgich of Grgich Hills Estate, Leslie Frank of Frank Family Vineyards, Stephanie Honig of Honig Vineyard and Winery, Susan Hoff of Fantesca Estate & Winery, Sandy Davis of Davis Estates, and Genevieve Janssens of Robert Mondavi Winery, among many others. These prominent women share their treasured recipes, recommendations for companion wines and spirits, and their passion for the valley and the history of their lush surroundings.
Author: George Gmelch Publisher: Indiana University Press ISBN: 025322327X Category : Business & Economics Languages : en Pages : 289
Book Description
Five million visitors a year travel to California's Napa Valley to experience the good life: to taste fine wines, eat fine food, and immerse themselves in other sophisticated pleasures while surrounded by bucolic beauty. Tourism is the world's largest employer, and tourists today want to experience the world through all five senses. Tasting the Good Life tells the story of Napa tourism through the words of the tourists who visit and the men and women who provide the products and services they rely on. The stories of 17 people--from winemaker to vineyard manager, from celebrity chef to wait staff, from hot air balloonist to masseuse--provide extraordinary insight into this new form of tourism and its impact on an iconic American place.
Author: John Schreiner Publisher: North Vancouver, B.C. : Whitecap Books ISBN: 9781552857809 Category : Okanagan River Valley (B.C. and Wash.) Languages : en Pages : 0
Book Description
A personal tour of British Columbia's Okanagan and Similkameen valleys for wine lovers and wine tourist, includes succinct profiles of each winery and the winemakers, maps, addresses, telephone and websites.
Author: Ian Malcolm Taplin Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing ISBN: 9781527569713 Category : Languages : en Pages :
Book Description
This book examines how Napa became a pre-eminent site for the production of great and sometimes iconic wines in a short space of time. Unlike its Old World counterparts whose development took place over centuries, Napaâ (TM)s inception didnâ (TM)t start until the beginning of the 19th century, and even then struggled to identify appropriate grape varietals and find a market for such wine, only to be frustrated when Prohibition occurred in the early 20th century and practically shut down the industry. It was in the 1960s that winegrowing would re-emerge on a scale and quality that began to be noticed by informed critics and neophyte consumers. In the following decades, critical information sharing networks of owners and winemakers emerged, facilitating a collective organization learning that fostered a commitment to quality and consistency that would cement Napaâ (TM)s reputation. During these decades, technical skills were embraced, institutional support harnessed, and demand for premium wine in America grew. This book is a story about this evolving wine market, about how key individuals were able to shape its organization and build a brand that would increasingly be identified as amongst the best in the world. It starts with an early discussion of what constitutes quality and how wine has been evaluated over the centuries, and ends by exploring Napaâ (TM)s apotheosis and the current critical issues facing the industry in that area.
Author: Kathryn Masson Publisher: ISBN: 9780847827206 Category : Architecture, Domestic Languages : en Pages : 0
Book Description
Sonoma Valley: the name alone evokes a wonderful sense of warmth, beauty, and magic. On hearing it, one envisions landscapes of sparkling rivers, verdant, vineyard-banked hillsides, and sunshine―in short, paradise. Having had this dream, those lured by the spell of Sonoma arrive to discover a place far more spectacular than imagined. In Sonoma Valley Style, author Kathryn Masson and award-winning photographer Steven Brooke offer us an intimate tour of this extraordinary place. By way of brilliant, full-color photography and lucid prose, we gain privileged entry into the stunning houses and easy lifestyle of this lush Eden. Sonoma Valley Style illustrates, in full color, extraordinary, restored and lived-in Mexican-period adobes, 19th-century Victorian farmhouses, early 20th-century craftsman bungalows, modern “California” ranch houses, and contemporary residences on the cutting edge of design.
Author: Tessa Edick Publisher: Arcadia Publishing ISBN: 1625857608 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 224
Book Description
Although it's the birthplace of American wine, Hudson Valley vintages have yet to meet with the renown of those produced by the neighboring Finger Lakes and Long Island. In the 1600s, French Huguenots arrived in the area and used their French winemaking skills to found vineyards. Benmarl is cultivating astounding varietals from a vineyard that has continuously grown grapes since 1772. Recently launched cooperative winemaking organizations have made strides in the region, and scientists at Cornell University have worked to determine the tastiest varietals and hybrids that will flourish in the challenging Hudson Valley terroir. Hudson Valley wines are at last garnering critical acclaim in mainstream national publications and restaurants. Tessa Edick and Kathleen Willcox uncover the hundreds of years, unrelenting pride, determination and ingenuity behind Hudson Valley wines.
Author: Alan Deutschman
Author: Luke Whittall
Author: George M. Walker & John Peragine
Author: Michelle Mandro
Author: George Gmelch
Author: John Schreiner
Author: Ian Malcolm Taplin
Author: Kelli A. White
Author: Kathryn Masson
Author: Tessa Edick