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A Very Good Year: The Journey of a California Wine From Vine to Table
by Mike Weiss
Available from Amazon
$29.95
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Features
Hardcover: 416 pages
Publisher: Thorndike Press; 1 edition October 6, 2005
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0786279680
ISBN-13: 978-0786279685
Product Dimensions:
8.5 x 5.7 x 1.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
From Publishers Weekly
"Did you ever think about all that goes into a bottle of wine?" Weiss set out to answer his wife's question and wound up writing a 39-day series for the San Francisco Chronicle in 2004, now expanded into book form. It starts with his November 2001 meeting with Don and Rhonda Carano—the visionary proprietors who built Ferrari-Carano Winery in Sonoma County, Calif., with their Nevada gaming fortune—and ends with the wine's market debut in May 2003. Weiss elicits revelatory disclosures, both personal and professional, from sources including the intuitive, unreserved grape farmer Steve Domenchelli; the intense, secretive winemaker George Bursick; the ambitious vineyard workers from the Mexican village of El Charco; and an unnamed contact he calls "Deep Cork." An admiring yet unflinching storyteller, Weiss weaves a drama of failures and fears, tragedies and triumphs, births and deaths, ego and jealousy. His narrative shares trade secrets, tricks and gossip, and describes in detail the meticulous crafting of corks, the sun-baked cultivation of grapes, the backbreaking work of harvest, the finesse of fermenting and blending wine, and the aggressive strategy needed to take it to market. This "biography" of the 2002 Ferrari-Carano Fumé Blanc is a sweet pleasure. Agent, David Vigliano. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Booklist
Weiss tracks the production of a single bottle of California wine from the vine to its appearance in restaurants and stores. In this instance the featured bottle holds a 2002 Fume Blanc from Ferrari-Carano, a Sonoma Valley winery. Weiss may begin with just a bottle, but he ends up with a vast human drama of compelling characters: the thrice-married lawyer-gaming executive, Don Carano, who owns the vineyard; Steve Domenichelli, who manages the vineyards carefully; George Bursick, the rock 'n' roll-loving winemaker; Steve Meisner, the marketer on whom commercial success depends; and Jaime Ruiz, one of the workers who tend the vines and bring in the harvest. Their true stories hold more lively interest than any imaginary Dynasty or Sideways characters. Months of work, worry, labor, and investment culminate in the wine's ultimate release to consumers. In common with other arts, much turns on the opinion of inordinately powerful media critics whose assignment of a rating number makes or breaks sales. This is an exceptionally readable account of the state of California's wine industry at the start of the new millennium. Mark Knoblauch
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Reader Reviews
This review is from: A Very Good Year: The Journey of a California Wine from Vine to Table (Hardcover)
I brought this book home from work and gave it to my husband to read. After finishing the book, he said that he thought I might like it. I'm very selective about the non-fiction I read, but drinking wine is one of my favorite pastimes, so I gave it a try. The book chronicles the process of producing a California Fume Blanc wine from vine to table. The author's selection process narrowed his winery choice down to the Ferrari-Carano winery in Sonoma County. He felt that this mid-sized winery typified the process for the California wine industry. Through interviews and observations, the author lets us get to know the people involved in the process-from the Mexican workers who tend the grapes to the top level staff and winery owners. From reading this book, I got the feeling that the final product is as much the result of the personalities involved in the process as it is the idiosyncrasies of the grapes, climate conditions and soils. I felt that the writing was a bit uneven, but to be fair, as a fiction reader, I am used to being able to maintain speed and pace while I read. I did learn a lot about the California wine industry from Weiss's book. Wine itself carries an air of elegance and prestige that masks the work that goes into it. About ten years ago, I spent a day harvesting grapes for a local Maryland winery. That single experience changed my perception of the process. This book added more details that make me more fully appreciate the nectar of the gods.
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A Very Good Year: The Journey of a California Wine From Vine to Table
by Mike Weiss
Available from Amazon
$29.95
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|
|
|
