Beautiful Wineries Of The Wine Country
The wineries of Northern California are as varied as the wines that emanate from the region’s bountiful soil. In BEAUTIFUL WINERIES OF THE WINE COUNTRY, author Jennifer Barry and acclaimed photographer Charles O’Rear present a magnificent visual tour of more than 50 distinctive wineries in Napa, Sonoma, and Mendocino counties. Featuring a variety of building styles—Victorian and historic farm, European influenced, and California contemporary—this small-scale, full-color coffee-table book is a thoughtful gift for architecture enthusiasts and the perfect keepsake for wine lovers and visitors. From sweeping landscapes to the tiniest architectural details, BEAUTIFUL WINERIES OF THE WINE COUNTRY captures the beauty and spirit of this multicultural locale.

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The Heartbreak Grape: A California Winemaker’s Search for the Perfect Pinot Noir
Customer Review: This is “A River Runs Through It” for wine lovers….
What “A River Runs Through It” is to flyfishermen everywhere, “The Heartbreak Grape” is to viticulturists, winemakers and wine lovers. Simply put, it captures the entire winemaking experience clearly and poetically.

The book begins in the golden hills of California, specifically in the cellar of the Calera Wine Company. Shortly thereafter it flashes back to a cozy December evening when South African Marq de Villiers attended a dinner party at Mount Vernon, New York. A cork was pulled by an unnamed host and wine was served without comment.

“I remember that something struck me about its clarity, a brilliant red, like rubies under fire, and though my memory is probably colored by the warmth of the setting, I know I felt there was something…unusual…about it.” The wine is Calera Jensen Mount Harlan Pinot Noir, 1987. The author continues by “…dipping my nose into the glass and inhaling slowly, then taking a small sip. It was rich and complex, with a maddening hint of chocolate and violets. I groped for descriptives, as wine people do, without much luck.”

What then follows is quite extraordinary. The author embarks on a journey west to California to discover how this exceptional bottle of wine came to be. But it is not just the story of a particular wine, it is the story of a particular grape, of a particular winemaker, of a particular way of making wine, of interventionist politics, of bureaucracies and critics and complex economics…. It is a broad canvas painted from a rich palette, and in the end the reader is delivered as the final arbiter of the art.

This is a fun book to read. It is both revealing and irreverent. From the primogeniture system in Bordeaux to the endless subdivision of land in Burgundy, de Villiers slices through the layers of tradition and bureaucracy to find the wisdom and practices that have resulted in some of the finest wines the world has ever known. To this stage set Josh Jensen, a young American student who had only recently decided he really enjoyed wine. He travels to where the best wines are made, and begins his education by picking grapes. He hangs around the wineries and translates for non-French-speaking visitors. In the end, he learns the Burgundian style of winemaking and takes it back to the United States, where he finds himself at odds with the then prevailing high-tech methods taught at UC-Davis. What ensures is a 15-year struggle to find the right soil in the right setting to grow the right crop so he could make the right wine from the most fickle of wine grapes, the Pinot Noir–the heartbreak grape. The proof of his success is evidenced not only in the French delegations sent over to find out how he did it, but also–no, especially–in the wine itself.

If you grow a few grapes, make some homemade wine, or simply love to drink the stuff, you’ll enjoy this book.

Customer Review: A stylish and dramatic tale about a man and his grape.
‘The Heartbreak Grape’ offers an intelligent and amusing look into the trials and tribulations surrounding one man’s efforts to produce a domestic wine equivalent to the best Red Burgundies. Mr. de Villiers writes with wit and style, and his engaging commentary provides a sense of drama to the story. Unfortunately, Mr. de Villiers suffers the fate of many who try to decipher the egos, expectations, and experiences of those involved with the complex world of wine. Factual errors abound, ranging from the trivial (mistaking “sulfur dioxide” for “sodium dioxide”) to the more disconcerting (as in Mr. de Villiers obvious mis-understandings about the role that science has played in assisting those involved in the production of fine wines). Too, his tendency to indulge in adulatory statements and his willingness to believe all that his protagonists tell him cause the book to, at times, read more like a PR publication than a reasoned view of wine production. In the final analysis, though, the sheer joy, excitement, and obsessiveness of the epic journey of Mr. Josh Jensen and his Pinot noir vines makes for tasty reading.

Related posts:

1. The Heartbreak Grape: A California Winemaker’s Search for the Perfect Pinot Noir
2. The Heartbreak Grape: A California Winemaker’s Search for the Perfect Pinot Noir
3. The Heartbreak Grape: A California Winemaker’s Search for the Perfect Pinot Noir

The Heartbreak Grape: A California Winemaker’s Search for the Perfect Pinot Noir
Customer Review: This is “A River Runs Through It” for wine lovers….
What “A River Runs Through It” is to flyfishermen everywhere, “The Heartbreak Grape” is to viticulturists, winemakers and wine lovers. Simply put, it captures the entire winemaking experience clearly and poetically.

The book begins in the golden hills of California, specifically in the cellar of the Calera Wine Company. Shortly thereafter it flashes back to a cozy December evening when South African Marq de Villiers attended a dinner party at Mount Vernon, New York. A cork was pulled by an unnamed host and wine was served without comment.

“I remember that something struck me about its clarity, a brilliant red, like rubies under fire, and though my memory is probably colored by the warmth of the setting, I know I felt there was something…unusual…about it.” The wine is Calera Jensen Mount Harlan Pinot Noir, 1987. The author continues by “…dipping my nose into the glass and inhaling slowly, then taking a small sip. It was rich and complex, with a maddening hint of chocolate and violets. I groped for descriptives, as wine people do, without much luck.”

What then follows is quite extraordinary. The author embarks on a journey west to California to discover how this exceptional bottle of wine came to be. But it is not just the story of a particular wine, it is the story of a particular grape, of a particular winemaker, of a particular way of making wine, of interventionist politics, of bureaucracies and critics and complex economics…. It is a broad canvas painted from a rich palette, and in the end the reader is delivered as the final arbiter of the art.

This is a fun book to read. It is both revealing and irreverent. From the primogeniture system in Bordeaux to the endless subdivision of land in Burgundy, de Villiers slices through the layers of tradition and bureaucracy to find the wisdom and practices that have resulted in some of the finest wines the world has ever known. To this stage set Josh Jensen, a young American student who had only recently decided he really enjoyed wine. He travels to where the best wines are made, and begins his education by picking grapes. He hangs around the wineries and translates for non-French-speaking visitors. In the end, he learns the Burgundian style of winemaking and takes it back to the United States, where he finds himself at odds with the then prevailing high-tech methods taught at UC-Davis. What ensures is a 15-year struggle to find the right soil in the right setting to grow the right crop so he could make the right wine from the most fickle of wine grapes, the Pinot Noir–the heartbreak grape. The proof of his success is evidenced not only in the French delegations sent over to find out how he did it, but also–no, especially–in the wine itself.

If you grow a few grapes, make some homemade wine, or simply love to drink the stuff, you’ll enjoy this book.

Customer Review: A stylish and dramatic tale about a man and his grape.
‘The Heartbreak Grape’ offers an intelligent and amusing look into the trials and tribulations surrounding one man’s efforts to produce a domestic wine equivalent to the best Red Burgundies. Mr. de Villiers writes with wit and style, and his engaging commentary provides a sense of drama to the story. Unfortunately, Mr. de Villiers suffers the fate of many who try to decipher the egos, expectations, and experiences of those involved with the complex world of wine. Factual errors abound, ranging from the trivial (mistaking “sulfur dioxide” for “sodium dioxide”) to the more disconcerting (as in Mr. de Villiers obvious mis-understandings about the role that science has played in assisting those involved in the production of fine wines). Too, his tendency to indulge in adulatory statements and his willingness to believe all that his protagonists tell him cause the book to, at times, read more like a PR publication than a reasoned view of wine production. In the final analysis, though, the sheer joy, excitement, and obsessiveness of the epic journey of Mr. Josh Jensen and his Pinot noir vines makes for tasty reading.

Related posts:

1. The Heartbreak Grape: A California Winemaker’s Search for the Perfect Pinot Noir
2. The Heartbreak Grape: A California Winemaker’s Search for the Perfect Pinot Noir
3. The Heartbreak Grape, Revised and Updated: A Journey in Search of the Perfect Pinot Noir

Your questions, expert answers Washington Post … Range online discussions: I need to buy a bottle of port for a recipe. What's a decent, but inexpensive, brand? I've never had it before, but I figure this could also serve as a way for me to get accustomed to the wine by drinking what's left over. …

Online wine websites get mixed reviews – Reuters

Online wine websites get mixed reviews Reuters Online wine sales, garnered an estimated $4 billion in sales in 2011, according to BEM, which is forecasting that number to grow to $6.5 billion in 2012. Wine.com, WTSO.com WTSO.L, Invino.com, Vitius.com as well as others, rely on Twitter, Facebook and … and more »

A Moveable Thirst: Tales and Tastes from a Season in Napa Wine Country
A rollicking wine country travelogue paired with the only comprehensive guide to Napa’s public tasting rooms

Hank Beal is a wine pro–the executive wine buyer at an upscale supermarket chain. Rick Kushman is an ordinary joe–a guy who enjoys wine but doesn’t know a lot about it. Together, Hank and Rick set out to visit all 141 public tasting rooms in Napa during the course of a year. The result is A Moveable Thirst–an engaging, often hilarious book that’s one part Sideways, one part Frommer’s. The first part recounts their uproarious adventures on the road as Rick learns to sniff and spit like a true oenophile (but never stops asking stupid questions). The second part offers the most complete and detailed guide ever published to Napa’s wine rooms. For wine lovers and the more than 5 million people who visit Napa every year, A Moveable Thirst is a great read and an indispensable guide.

Customer Review: Funniest Wine Book Written
What a funny book. A 12 month journey visiting all wine tasting rooms in NAPA. Not a review of the wines, but a review of the tasting rooms. If you are into NAPA Wines, then this is the book to read. Each chapter is a short story. I would have given anything to be able to take their year long journey. Very well written….

Customer Review: Informative and Engaging Read
I loved this book! Not only is A Moveable Thirst an informative read, it was a pleasure to read. The writing mirrors the rollicking ride these two authors obviously enjoyed while on their “Quest” in the Napa Valley. Highly recommend this to both the wine obsessed and anyone planning a wine tasting trip. Great fun!

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2. Make Wine – Napa Valley & Sonoma: Heart of the California Wine Country
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Altrusa uncorks wine tasting fundraiser
Corks will pop as Altrusa International of Pendleton hosts its annual Wine Tasting and Hors d’oeuvres event. The fundraiser helps support the community service club’s Feed the Child project. The event is Saturday, Jan. 14 from 5-8 p.m. at

The Wine Lover’s Healthy Weight Loss Plan

Now there’s a heart-healthy weight loss program that lets you enjoy the benefits of your cherished Chardonnay

For some time the media has been abuzz with news of the health benefits of wine, but until now there has been no authoritative source for those interested in making wine part of a healthy diet. Coauthored by a noted cardiologist and an award-winning chef, The Wine Lover’s Healthy Weight Loss Plan shows how you can easily shed unwanted pounds, while maximizing the health benefits of your favorite wines.

Sample recipes include:

• Scampi with Chipotle-Orange Sauce, paired with a 2004 Marquis-Philips “Holly’s Blend,” Verdelho, McLaren Vale, Australia
• Roast Duck with Lavender-Lemon Honey Sauce, paired with a Bergstrom Winery 2004 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir

Customer Review: Not just for wine lovers
In my business, I receive a lot of requests for endorsements, but accept only those I deem the best. And I jumped on this request immediately. It could not be more appropriate for my audience.

I agree with the reviewer from Seattle who described this as a great reference book – both for its informed health information and its storehouse of healthy gourmet recipes (no those are NOT compatible).

Not just for wine lovers? No, this is a great source book for those wondering whether wine can be beneficial to their health. The answer is yes it is beneficial, if consumed daily and in moderation. And that’s good news for all of us.

Dave Chambers, Wine Merchant
SidewaysWineClub.com

Customer Review: Informational and realistic
Being an active and health conscious individual, I was looking for a realistic weight loss plan that would suit my urban lifestyle. After reading the “Wine Lovers…” I’ve found what I was looking for. This book provides a food and wine education surrounding the lifestyle choices of those in the Mediterranean. The “Wine Lovers…” author(s) are passionate, well-informed, and educated. Their enthusiasm for food and wine spills gracefully onto the pages of this book. The “Wine Lovers…” also boasts quality recipes far above the standard for diet books. It’s like having a gourmet cookbook inside a diet book! I urge anyone who is looking for a lifestyle change, trying to lose weight, or who simply desires the richness and fulfillment of wine to consider this book for purchase.

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1. Store Wine – The Wine Lover’s Healthy Weight Loss Plan
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A good glass of bubbles is always in season Edmonton Journal A regular wine glass is perfectly fine (even prefer-able) for sparklings and will allow you to enjoy all the aromas of a good bubbly. Ideal temperature to serve a young sparkling wine is 8 to 10 degrees Celsius, while an older Champagne will benefit … and more »

Kevin Zraly’s American Wine Guide: 2008 (Kevin Zraly’s American Wine Guide)

Customer Review: Brief Guide – but assumes too much
As an Australian with little knowledge of the American Wine Industry this guide is a terse introduction to some basic facts and figures. However, it tells me little about the respective qualities of the different states or areas. Also the lists of suggested wines and makers is short and restricted to a couple of states. Yes, this is a small format book, but it could have done a much better job. The views of the author suggest he is well-known and respected. If this is the case – maybe he is resting on his laurels, maybe he needs to rethink and restructure this guide, so that it is more useful to a wider audience.

Customer Review: Interesting but Not what I expected
This is a much smaller book which incorporates some of the material from Zraly’s Windows on the World Complete Wine Course: 2008 Edition (Windows on the World Complete Wine Course) but is limited to American Wines only. The information on the most important American wine growing states (California, Washington. Oregon and New York) and grape varieties is often word-for word identical between the two books.

The unique feature of this book is the state-by-state description of wineries, growing regions, wine trails, and the grapes grown in all 50 states. For example Delaware has only 2 wineries (the least of any state) while California has more than 1600 wineries. Even Alaska has six wineries and Hawaii has four. Wyoming, which Zraly describes as having the lowest wine production of any state has three wineries. There are expanded though still short descriptions of the 5th through 10th place wine producing states (Pennsylvania, Virginia, Colorado, North Carolina, Texas, and Michigan) that don’t appear elsewhere. Zraly writes in an entertaining and easy to read style here as elsewhere and the illustrations are crisp and pleasant.

Individual wines are not reviewed or rated and only wines from California, Washington and Oregon are recommended in this book due to the limited availability of wines from other states. The list is the same here as in “Wine Course”. In short this book was not what I expected since the only unique material is the state-by-state review of wineries and grapes. His hardcover “Wine Course” covers more much more information making it a better value and better suited for most readers interested in learning about wine. The limited scope and simple format make this an accessible “teaser” book for the complete wine novice however. It is also useful as a guide for hard core wine tourists of lesser known growing states and those interested in the wine industry in these states.

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1. Grape Wine – Kevin Zraly’s American Wine Guide: 2008 (Kevin Zraly’s American Wine Guide)
2. Purchase Wine – Kevin Zraly’s American Wine Guide: 2009 (Kevin Zraly’s American Wine Guide)
3. Make Wine – Kevin Zraly’s American Wine Guide: 2009 (Kevin Zraly’s American Wine Guide)

The best wines for casseroles
The crispy edges at the sides of the dish are addictive, and the stuff is just dead-simple to make. And it goes great with red wine, ideally one with reasonable acidity and tannins to cut through all that richness. Any substantial southern

Penin Guide to Spanish Wine 2008 (Penin Guide to Spanish Wine)
The Pein Guide is the definitive and most updated book to learn about Spanish wines with more than 13,000 brands reviewed and 8,100 wines tasted.

Customer Review: THE BIBLE OF SPANISH WINE
THIS BOOK IS A MUST BUY FOR SPANISH WINE LOVERS.
EASY TO USE , TO UNDERSTAND AND WITH TERRIFIC TIPS ON WHAT TO BUY.
tHIS BOOK TALKS ABOUT DIFFERENT CLIMATES, SOILS AND GRAPE VARITIES.
THE KIND OF BOOK THAT ONE CAN’T MISS!!!

Customer Review: Missing the most important information!
The guide is very much standard in terms of layout – begins with notes about the tasting and rating processes, gives an overview of Spanish wines, and then delves into the various regions giving an overview of each, together with listings of most estates and their wines. The book ends with a nice list of top wines, and an index that seems to work well.

However, on page 9, the author states that with each rating he also gives the price range of the wine, as well as a rating of the value for money (1 to 5 stars). Umm, nice… but where is this information? It seems to me that the publishers of this English-language edition simply removed this information for what can only be commercial reasons and protection of import monopolies in your country.

As most of us who buy this book do not live in Spain itself, the price and value for money information is of utmost importance (is my local importer ripping me off, is this special offer really a good offer, am I paying too much for a 92 point wine, etc). Very disappointing – especially in a guide that is meant to stand above commercial interests and inform the consumer for his or her benefit.

I would imagine that the Spanish original would have this information. May be worth getting it just for that, and learning a bit of Spanish won’t hurt you either.

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Burgundy and Its Wines

Customer Review: Pretty but not very useful
This book is sort of all fluff; the pictures are pretty, but it’s not really very informative. I’d skip it and buy a Michelin guide unless you want a picture book for your coffee table.

Customer Review: Burgundy & its Wines
The book has wonderful photography, with a nice history of the region. A few major vineyards are listed, but don’t expect it to be a list of key Burgundian hot spots! More the asthetic and artistic history of the area and how wine got started and grew.

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Wine Lovers’ Page

The ongoing timeline of wine Wine Lovers’ Page It's December, the multicultural season of holidays, and we've chosen an appropriate Wine Focus topic for the month in our WineLovers Discussion Group. You're invited to join our friendly international crowd of online wine lovers as we taste and talk …

Suburban cellars’ online revolution – Adelaide Now

Suburban cellars' online revolution Adelaide Now "Online is the future, forget about bricks and mortar – showcasing wine behind bricks and mortar is the past," said Mr Mazzocato, who runs Skye Cellars at Auldana. "Even the elderly are ordering wine online, they are ordering champagne and getting it …

Port and the Douro (Faber Books on Wine)
An indispensable book for both the armchair wine connoisseur and anyone interested in visiting Portugal.

Port is indisputably one of the world’s great fortified wines, and shipments of Port to countries around the world are at their highest level ever. Port and the Douro recounts the fascinating history of Port, going back to the fourth century through the golden age of Port in the 1800s and up to the modern methods of production of the 1990s.

Approaching his subject with a wonderful combination of enthusiasm and erudition–and enhancing his points with beautiful color photographs and evocative line drawings by Leo Duff–Richard Mayson looks at each of the main quintas in the Douro Valley, the valley of terraced vineyards in northern Portugal in which the roots of Port are firmly embedded. He describes how Port is made and identifies all the different styles, from white to ruby to vintage Port. In addition to providing a list of the finest producers and vintages, he also offers such practical advice as how to age, decant, and serve Port, giving the Port drinker all the knowledge he or she needs in order to appreciate fully this special wine.

Customer Review: Port and Douro wine library
The book was exactly what I ordered.It was received in a very short period of time.

Customer Review: Definitive, comprehensive, informative, articulate.
Port And The Douro is the fascinating story of Port over the centuries and surveys the remarkable physical conditions of the wine growing region of Portugal, the grape varieties, and the vineyards that make the Douro valley so special. Richard Mayson draws upon his many years of experience in the wine trade in general and his remarkable expertise in Port wines and how they are made. Port And The Douro is definitive, comprehensive, informative, articulate, and greatly rewarding reading for connoisseurs, dealers, and the nonspecialist general reader seeking to select just the right Port for the occasion.

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Cellaring Wine: A Complete Guide to Selecting, Building, and Managing Your Wine Collection
Beer is just a beverage, but wine is an experience. There?s an aura of romance, a hint of the sublime, to bringing a bottle up from your own cellar, carefully drawing out the cork, pouring the wine into a goblet, and taking the first delectable sip.

Now Jeff Cox, author of From Vines to Wines (89,000 copies in print) and a connoisseur well respected in wine circles, shows you how easy it is to have a wine cellar of your own.

But Cellaring Wine is not a home-building project book. In some cases, the would-be wine collector doesn?t have to do much building at all. Rather, Cellaring Wine teaches anyone who loves wine how to create a working system of selecting wines that will age well, know how to lay them down properly, and recognize when they have matured to their full glory and are ready to be savored.

Cox pinpoints the optimum conditions of temperature, light, and humidity for a wine cellar. He walks you through possible locations for your wine cellar ? whether in the basement, an old root cellar, the back of your garage, or even a closet or room in your house ? and what each location requires. He explains when you?ll need a climate-control device (and how much they cost). And he discusses the pros and cons of buying a freestanding unit that is much like a refrigerator.

Then Cox tackles the question that most troubles wine lovers: Which wines will improve with age, and which won?t? This chapter alone is worth the price of the book, since nothing is more disappointing to a wine lover than waiting years to open a bottle of wine only to discover that it was at its peak when it was laid down.

Cox shows you how to keep accurate records so you know at a glance ? without having to hunt through the wine racks ? what you have, where it?s located, and how much to buy so the cellar doesn?t become depleted. And he gives you a crash course in appreciating the fragrance and flavor of a fine wine.Perhaps best of all, Cox gets readers excited about the possibilities of having their own wine cellar. After all, a cellar is not just a storage room, it?s a university where good young wines become great.

Customer Review: Cellaring and much more….
The title of this book is a little misleading, the book does cover selecting, building, and managing wine. However, this information only acocunts for about 1/4 of the book. The rest of the book talks about wine in general. The cellaring chapters were very detailed and answered all of my questions. The other 3/4 of the book was interesting and covered your basic intro to wine information. If you want to know more about wine, or are looking for a complete guide on different ways to cellar wine, then this book is for you.

Customer Review: Exactly what it says…
Jeff Cox has written a wonderful guide for cellaring wine which is nearly complete in all its details. More importantly, he has managed to write it in a way that is highly readable.

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