"I can no more think of my own life without thinking of wine and wines and where they grew for me and why I drank them when I did and why I picked the grapes and where I opened the oldest procurable bottles, and all that, than I can remember living before I breathed."
With this remarkable sentence, M.F.K. Fisher opens this abundant book, in which forty-four of the most knowledgeable winemakers and wine authorities explore the achievement of California wine from the Mission days to the present. Fisher's reminiscence on the honest wines she has enjoyed over seven decades is followed by an astute essay by the noted wine critic Hugh Johnson showing how the new style of California winemaking has changed the world's way of thinking about California wineand#151;and California's way of thinking about itself. In other original essays eight winemakers, several historians and wine critics, a gifted cook, a doctor, a plant geneticist, corkscrew and label collectors, and a score of other experts discuss the many dimensions of California wine, give guidance on tasting, and evaluate the wine and wineries.
This lavishly produced volume was set on a Mergenthaler Linotron 202, using a Mergenthaler digital adaptation of Plantin. The jacket and endpapers were printed by Max Strassman, Mastercraft Press, San Francisco, on Thistle Multicolor, a paper manufactured for and distributed by Process Materials Corporation, Rutherford, New Jersey. The book was printed and bound by Kingsport Press, and Arcata Graphics Company, Kingsport, Tennesee. Printing was by offset lithography on a six-color web-fed press. Text paper stock, milled for this book, is Penn Text Laid, 70 pound weight, manufactured by the Penn Tech Mill, Johnsonburg. The book is bound in Buntgewebe 300 binding cloth, made by Vereinigte Goppinger Bamberger Kaliko GmbH of Bamberg, Germany. Book design is by Ernest Born, who drew the large roman numbers in chapter headings and several items of ornamental and geometric character that are found scattered throughout the volume, sometimes in association with incidental illustrations and supportive technical captions.
Acknowledgments
Foreword, by Doris Muscatine
List of Illustrations
Preface: Wine is Life, by M.F.K. Fisher
Essay: California Wine: An International View, by Hugh Johnson
HISTORY: FROM THE MISSIONS TO PROHIBITION
1. The Early Days in Southern California, by Thomas Pinney
2. Alta California's First vintage, by Roy Brady
3. The Gold Rush Era, by Thomas Pinney
4. Note: The Contributions of the Chinese, by Jack Chen
5. Those Who Worked the Land, by Sue Eileen Hayes
6. Northern California from Haraszthy to the Beginnings of Prohibition, by John N. Hutchinson
HISTORY: FROM PROHIBITION TO THE PRESENT DAY
1. The Volstead Act, Rebirth, and Boom, by Ruth Teiser and Catherine Harroun
2. Note: Home Winemaking, by Ruth Teiser and Catherine Harroun
GEOGRAPHY, CLIMATE, AND VINTAGES
1. The Vine and its Environments, by Maynard A. Amerine and Philip M. Wagner
2. The Vintages of California, by Bob Thompson
CULTIVATING THE VINE IN CALIFORNIA
1. Grape Varieties, by Amand N. Kasimatis
2. The Science of Growing Grapes, by Zelma Long
3. Genetic Engineering, by Carole P. Meredith
WINEMAKING STYLES AND TECHNIQUES
1. A Winemaking Primer, by Bob Thompson
2. The Vinification of Fine Wine, by Walter Schug
3. Note: Bottles, by Dan Berger
4. Note: Corks, by Dan Berger
5. Enological and Technological Developments, by Zelma Long
6. Note: The Earliest Barrels, by Walter Horn and Ernest Born
7. Note: Barrels in Modern Winemaking, by Timothy J. Mondavi
SOME REFLECTIONS ON THE WINES
1. Cabernet Sauvignon, by Gerald Asher
2. Pinot Noir, by Forrest R. Tancer
3. Zinfandel, by Paul Draper
4. Other Red Wines, by the Editors
5. Chardonnay, by Eleanor McCrea
6. Sauvignon Blanc, by Jean R. White
7. Other White Wines, by the Editors
8. Sparkling Wines, by Jack L. Davies
9. Dessert Wines, by Darrell F. Corti
10. Fruit, Berry, and Other Wines, by Doris Muscatine
11. Note: Altar Wines, by Thomas D. Terry, S.J.
ART, ARTIFACTS, AND SOCIETIES
1. The Literature of California Wine, by Roy Brady
2. Note: The Wine Museum of San Francisco, by Doris Muscatine
3. Note: The Art of the Label, by David lance goines, Adrian Wilson, and Andrew Hoyem
4. Understanding a California Label, by Doris Muscatine
5. Collecting Wine Labels, by Roy Brady
6. Note: Corkscrews, by Brother Timothy Diener, F.S.C.
7. Social Organizations, by Paul Scholten, M.D.
8. Note: Tasting Groups, by John Bender
9. Note: The Zinfandel Club of London, by Mark Savage
10. Note: Wine as Art, by William B. Fretter
MEDICAL VALUES AND ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES
1. Medical and Therapeutic Values, by William J. Dickerson, M.D.
2. The Economics of Wine in California b Kirby Moulton
3. Note: Extravaganzas, by Doris Muscatine
THE LEGAL AND POLITICAL HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA WINE, by James M. Seff and John F. Cooney
APPRECIATIONS AND EVALUATIONS
1. Sensory Evaluation, or How to Taste Wine, by Maynard A. Amerine
2. Note: Popular Courses in Wine Appreciation, by James Lapsley
3. Secrets of Wine Tasting, by Roy Brady
4. Note: Wine with Food, by Harvey Steiman
5. Note: Memorable Menus, by Alice Waters
6. The Critics Look at California Wines, by Bob Thompson
A Wine Glossary, by Doris Muscatine
Select Bibliography
Notes on Contributors
Index