Bottled Poetry – Napa Winemaking from Prohibition to the Modern Era - Hardcover

Lapsley, James T

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0520202724 ISBN 13: 9780520202726

Publisher: University of California Press, 1997

Synopsis

California's Napa Valley is one of the world's premier wine regions today, but this has not always been true. James Lapsley's entertaining history explains how a collective vision of excellence among winemakers and a keen sense of promotion transformed the region and its wines following the repeal of Prohibition. Focusing primarily on the formative years of Napa's fine winemaking, 1934 to 1967, Lapsley then concludes with a chapter on the wine boom of the 1970's, placing it in a social context and explaining the role of Napa vineyards in the beverage's growing popularity. Names familiar to wine drinkers occur throughout these pages - Beaulieu, Beringer, Charles Krug, Christian Brothers, Louis Martini, Inglenook - and the colorful stories behind the names give this book a personal dimension.These strong-willed, competitive winemakers found ways to work cooperatively, both in sharing knowledge and technology and in promoting their region. The result was an unprecedented improvement in wine quality that brought with it a new reputation for the Napa Valley. In "The Silverado Squatters", Robert Louis Stevenson refers to wine as 'bottled poetry', and although Stevenson's reference was to the elite vineyards of France, his words are appropriate for Napa wines today. Their success, as Lapsley makes clear, is due to much more than the beneficence of sun and soil. Craft, vision, and determination have played a part too, and for that, wine drinkers the world over are grateful.

About this title

Review:

"The author's writing style is both friendly and compelling as he relates the history of the formative years of Napa winemaking. Recommended."--"Wine and Spirits Magazine

About the Author:

James T. Lapsley is Continuing Education Specialist with University Extension, University of California, Davis.

About this edition

• Publisher: University of California Press
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0520202724
• ISBN 13: 9780520202726
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 314