Back Lane Wineries of Napa, Second Edition


Book Description

This updated guide to the small and "secret" back-lane wineries and tasting rooms of Napa profiles over 70 hard-to-find, authentic boutique estates that feature world-class, artisanal wines revered by locals and critics. Beyond the crowded tasting rooms of Napa’s popular wineries, there’s an authentic, welcoming side of the valley waiting to be explored: boutique estates run by passionate winemakers who handcraft world-class wines. Back Lane Wineries of Napa uncovers more than seventy of these gems that locals and critics revere but few visitors ever see. Updated with new wineries, restaurants, and local attractions; maps; full-color photographs; and tips on wine-tasting etiquette, wine shipping services, and itinerary planning, this guide will prepare oenophiles and beginning wine-lovers alike to live the good life—Napa style.




Back Lane Wineries of Napa, Second Edition


Book Description

This updated guide to the small and "secret" back-lane wineries and tasting rooms of Napa profiles over 70 hard-to-find, authentic boutique estates that feature world-class, artisanal wines revered by locals and critics. Beyond the crowded tasting rooms of Napa’s popular wineries, there’s an authentic, welcoming side of the valley waiting to be explored: boutique estates run by passionate winemakers who handcraft world-class wines. Back Lane Wineries of Napa uncovers more than seventy of these gems that locals and critics revere but few visitors ever see. Updated with new wineries, restaurants, and local attractions; maps; full-color photographs; and tips on wine-tasting etiquette, wine shipping services, and itinerary planning, this guide will prepare oenophiles and beginning wine-lovers alike to live the good life—Napa style.




Back Lane Wineries of Sonoma, Second Edition


Book Description

This updated guide to the small and "secret" back-lane wineries and tasting rooms of Sonoma profiles over 70 hard-to-find, authentic boutique estates that feature world-class, artisanal wines revered by locals and critics. Of the hordes of tourists who visit Sonoma each year, many are becoming frustrated by the crowded tasting rooms, lack of variety, and corporate atmostphere of the popular wineries. In Back Lane Wineries of Sonoma, author Tilar Mazzeo uncovers hidden gems of the valley: wineries growing grapes and crafting exceptional wines that often only have a local distribution and limited production. Amid these off-the-beaten-path wineries, many family-run by pioneers of sustainable and organic viticulture, is where oenophiles and beginning wine-lovers alike can relish in the laid-back atmosphere Sonoma has to offer. This pocket-sized travel guide is updated with new destinations, maps, and full-color photographs throughout, organized by area--including the charming Healdsburg, Dry Creek Valley, and Russian River Valley--and provides essentials like pricing and hours of operation. A resident of the valley, Mazzeo also adds insight on restaurants, attractions, and accommodations; wine-tasting etiquette; wine shipping services; and itinerary planning to ensure an unforgettable travel experience.




A Tale of Two Valleys


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.




A Moveable Thirst


Book Description

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.




Napa Valley Iconic Wineries


Book Description

"Napa Valley iconic wineries offers an inside look at some of the world's most beloved wineries, an introduction to award-winning vintners, and interesting details about their signature wines - including how they are made and best enjoyed..." --Front jacket flap.




Vino Italiano


Book Description

At one time, Italian wines conjured images of cheap Chianti in straw-wrapped bottles. More recently, expensive “Super Tuscans” have been the rage. But between these extremes lay a bounty of delicious, moderately priced wines that belong in every wine drinker’s repertoire. Vino Italiano is the only comprehensive and authoritative American guide to the wines of Italy. It surveys the country’s wine-producing regions; identifies key wine styles, producers, and vintages; and offers delicious regional recipes. Extensive reference materials—on Italy’s 300 growing zones, 361 authorized grape varieties, and 200 of the top producers—provide essential information for restaurateurs and wine merchants, as well as for wine enthusiasts. Beautifully illustrated as well as informative, Vino Italiano is the perfect invitation to the Italian wine experience.




Reflections of a Vintner


Book Description

A compendium for wine lovers: a prominent vintner shares a lifetime of great wines, famous friends, deep knowledge, and insider insights Reflections of a Vintner recounts the lessons learned, relationships forged, and observations made from an insider’s nearly fifty-year journey through the burgeoning wine industry in Napa Valley. From the mid-seventies, when there were less than fifty wineries, to the present, with over eight hundred, Tor Kenward shares his recollections as the region became a world-class wine destination. Following the calendar year, each chapter opens with the challenges and opportunities a winemaker faces that month—in the vineyard, winery, tasting room, and out on the road. In addition to the wine knowledge Kenward imparts, the vintner shares stories of his friendships with legends of the modern American food and wine scene, including Julia Child, André Tchelistcheff, Andy Beckstoffer, and Robert Mondavi, among others. Kenward’s hard work as a vintner was recently acknowledged and celebrated. In the October 2021 Judgment of Napa, held forty-five years after the historic Judgement of Paris, TOR Cabernet was judged to be #1, outscoring legendary Bordeaux châteaux, Napa Valley, and international peers by leading critics and sommeliers. TOR wines, coveted by connoisseurs worldwide, received seven perfect 100-point ratings from leading critics for their 2018 Napa Valley wines. An iconic winemaker, Kenward has written, taught, and lectured on wine most of his adult life. What he is most often asked about are not facts or numbers about his wines, but the stories behind them. These are stories of inspiration and wisdom that shaped his journey. With Kenward’s impressive connection to Napa Valley and his legacy of creating inimitable wines, Reflections of a Vintner offers entertaining insights into an often intimidating and complex but highly enjoyable world.




Back Lane Wineries of Napa


Book Description

Back Lane Wineries of Napa is a guide to wineries where you can find excellent handcrafted wines made by on-site proprietors, often with only local distribution and limited production, places where wine tasting gets down-to-earth—no one needs to show off how developed his or her palate is. These are often also where sustainable and organic viticulture is being pioneered. Above all, these are wines that are likely to be a new experience, and among the back-lane wineries of Napa, there are still discoveries to be made. Tilar J. Mazzeo reveals a different side of the valley—a place that’s vibrant, young, and far more accessible and friendly than you might assume. In addition to the profiles of more than seventy wineries, there are Wine Tasting Essentials, Wine Shipping Services, an overview of the area, ideas about how to plan an itinerary, the etiquette of tasting, general prices, and much more practical information. There are also restaurant suggestions and local attractions that can be worked into an itinerary spontaneously.




The VB6 Cookbook


Book Description

Following up on his bestselling diet plan, VB6, the incomparable Mark Bittman delivers a full cookbook of recipes designed to help you eat vegan every day before 6:00 p.m.--and deliciously all of the time. Whether you call it flexitarian, part-time veganism, or vegetable-centric, the plant-based, real-food approach to eating introduced in Bittman's New York Times bestselling book VB6 has helped countless people regain their good health, control their weight, and forge a smarter, more ethical relationship with food. VB6 does away with the hard and fast rules, the calorie-counting, and the portion control of conventional diets; it's a regimen that is designed to be easy toa dopt and stick to for a lifetime. When Bittman committed to a vegan before 6:00 pm diet, he quickly realized that everything about it became easier if he cooked his own meals at home. In The VB6 Cookbook he makes this proposition more convenient than you could imagine. Drawing on a varied and enticing pantry of vegan staples strategically punctuated with "treat" foods (including meat and other animal products), he has created a versatile repertoire of recipes that makes following his plan simple, satisfying, and sustainable. Breakfasts, the most challenging meal of the day for some vegans, are well represented here, with a full range of hot cereals, whirl-and-go-dairy free smoothies, toast toppers, and brunch-worthy entrees. Lunches include hearty soupls, sandwiches, beans, grains, and pastas to pack along wherever the day takes you, and more than a dozen snack recipes provide the perfect afternoon pick-me-up to banish the vending-machine cravings that can undo a day of eating well. Dinners are flexitarian, focusing on vegetable-forward meals that are augmented by a range of animal products for fullest flavor, satisfaction, and nutrient density. A chapter devoted entirely to "building blocks"--make-ahead components you mix and match--ensures that a flavorful and healthy meal is never more than a few minutes away. If you've thought of trying a vegan diet but worry it's too monotonous or unfamiliar, or simply don't want to give up foods you love to eat, Bittman's vegan and flexitarian recipes will help you cook your way to a new, varied and quite simply better way of eating you can really commit to...for life.