****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
This is a carefully focused look at the best of current American wines and wineries. The subtitle makes it clear that the wineries (and the vintners) share equal billing with the wines. The book is not intended to be read from front to back, but rather to be looked at from time to time, to learn more about a particular grape variety or wine-growing region.The author has visited each winery, explains how it came into being, and quotes extensively the key persons involved with its success. The reasons for selecting the particular wine become evident as the chapter on it and the winery making it unfolds. The chapters are all about ten pages long, including a page of maps and a page giving the label and notes on vintages to buy and when they will be at their best.The very long editorial review given above misses some key points. Perhaps the author simply read the book straight through (not what is intended, as noted above). However the chapter on Stone Hill Norton hardly could have been studied very carefully. Norton is the only grape variety in the book that is native to the U.S. It is not an eastern, labrusca, variety. Unless you have tried it (I have) you cannot seriously make an comparison of it with a "lush" cabernet sauvignon. The two grapes simply are different. They each can be truly outstanding, but not identical.The editorial reviewer does make one accurate point: the chapters indeed ALL are informational. But that is the purpose of the book. The repetition claimed by that reviewer is so that the reader can start with any wine of interest. The variety of approaches used by the author are calibrated to the variety of wineries, some with a long history others very recent, some corporate and others small and family run.There are many lists of "best" wines. They all give only brief justifications for the selections. This book does much more. It will be rewarding reading for novices and experts, alike.
