The Finest Wines of California

The Finest Wines of California
Author: Stephen Brook
Publisher: Univ of California Press
Total Pages: 320
Release: 2011-03-07
Genre: Cooking
ISBN: 0520266587
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Unconstrained by tradition or viticultural regulation, California winemakers enjoy a freedom that has resulted in a remarkable range of world-class wines. Beautifully illustrated with original photographs and detailed color maps, this guide introduces California wine by exploring the best that the state has to offer —from lush Sonoma Chardonnay to spicy Santa Barbara Syrah to heady Amador Zinfandel. At the heart of the book, award-winning wine writer Stephen Brook offers 90 intimate profiles of top producers—from Napa and Sonoma to the North and Central coasts, the Sierra foothills, and beyond. Brook also includes general information on California wine history, wine culture, grape varieties, and more. Throughout, he searches for the characteristics that make California wine distinctive despite its tremendous diversity—and finds the answer in the state’s unusual climate, especially the shifting interplay between fog and sun, as well as a lively and constant questioning of received ideas about viticulture, vine age, terroir, and winemaking techniques, all of which have helped winemakers to create complexity,individuality, and nuance in their wines.

The Finest Wines of Tuscany and Central Italy

The Finest Wines of Tuscany and Central Italy
Author: Nicholas Belfrage
Publisher: Univ of California Press
Total Pages: 320
Release: 2009-09-14
Genre: Cooking
ISBN: 0520259424
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The wines of Tuscany were famous long before Leonardo da Vinci described them as “bottled sunshine,” and they are at the forefront of the remarkable renaissance of Italian wine over the past 30 years. In this groundbreaking new book, Nicolas Belfrage shares his insider’s knowledge acquired as a specialist wine trader and writer. Mindful of the region’s fascinating past, Belfrage brings its story up to date, discussing such subjects as geology and geography, grape varieties, and the latest research into Sangiovese, the variety used in the top wines of Chianti Classico, Brunello di Montalcino, and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. He also clarifies the regulatory framework and follows the recent controversial developments in viticulture and winemaking, including the rise of the Super-Tuscans and the ongoing “Brunellogate” scandal that broke in 2008. At the heart of the book are in-depth, illustrated profiles of more than 90 of the most interesting producers, large and small, with insightful notes on the essential character of their finest wines. The author also offers a comprehensive review of vintages and selects his top 100 wines in ten different categories, while wines of special quality or value are indicated throughout.

The Finest Wines of Champagne

The Finest Wines of Champagne
Author: Michael Edwards
Publisher: Univ of California Press
Total Pages: 320
Release: 2009-09-14
Genre: Cooking
ISBN: 0520259408
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Champagne is synonymous with celebration and success—but have its festive associations detracted from its status as a fine wine in its own right? Drawing on his intimate knowledge of a classic but rapidly changing region, Michael Edwards takes a radically different approach in this unrivaled, terroir-based guide to the world’s best sparkling wines. Ninety in-depth profiles of the best small growers as well as the greatest houses are organized geographically—from the finest producers of the great city of Reims, wine towns of Epernay and Aÿ, and the leading villages of the Marne, and to the rising stars of the Aube (Côte des Bar) and beyond. Edwards also discusses the culture of Champagne, reviews trends in viticulture and winemaking, and investigates controversial solutions to the current crisis of success in a region that cannot satisfy global demand for its wines. Additional sections explore the gastronomic traditions of the area, give advice on pairing Champagne with food, survey the vintages of the past 20 years, list the wines with the best price-to-quality ratio, and more, making this extensively illustrated work a true connoisseur’s guide to the most glamorous and perhaps the most enigmatic of French wines.

Finest Wines of Germany

Finest Wines of Germany
Author: Stephen Reinhardt
Publisher:
Total Pages: 272
Release: 2012-10-01
Genre: Cooking
ISBN: 9781781310212
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Focusing on one of the twenty-first century’s most exciting and innovative wine producing regions, this edition covers the most majestic of Rieslings, lesser-known varieties of Silvanor, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris and upcoming classics such as Pinot Noir – hailed as the new ‘Red Riesling’. With a history and wine culture dating back to the Middle Ages, German wine once had a reputation for subtlety and quality; Rieslings from the Rhine, Mosel and Saar were among the most sought-after and expensive wines in the world. However, throughout the World Wars, a perception of German wine as being ‘cheap and sweet’ emerged – a development encouraged by the 1971 German Wine Law, which based wine categories on sugar levels. Now 100 years since the last Golden Age of German Wine, a new era of rejuvenation, innovation and variety has dawned. The author looks in depth at topics including: climate and soil, the new generation of wine growers, developments in German drinking culture, as well as considering grape varieties and viticulture. The book concludes with a profile of the most noteworthy producing regions, vineyards and a list of classic vintages.

California's Central Coast: The Ultimate Winery Guide

California's Central Coast: The Ultimate Winery Guide
Author: Mira Advani Honeycutt
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Total Pages: 128
Release: 2007-05-10
Genre: Cooking
ISBN: 9780811851671
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"The winemaking region encompassed by Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties is hot among those in the know -- and with good reason. A huge variety of the finest wines are only a pour away, and the setting is as dazzling as what's in the glass. Yet, despite its recent surge in popular appeal, the coast retains the down-home feel and roll-up-your-sleeves attitude that made it famous. The wineries of the Central Coast offer the perfect mix of elegant hospitality and warm accessibility -- as often as not, the people who pour your wine in the tasting rooms are not only the winemakers, but the winery owners as well, and they are happy to spend time chatting about their passion. Mira Advani Honeycutt's affectionately detailed text is a perfect introduction to this exciting expanse of vineyards. She reveals how the many microclimates of the Santa Ynez, Santa Maria, Arroyo Grande, and Edna Valleys, as well as the area around Paso Robles, have led to the production of an amazing diversity of varietals by an equally varied collection of wineries. Whether you're looking for a lush picnic spot and a glass of bubbly or panoramic views accompanied by a tasting flight of robust Rhône blends, her helpful tips lead the way. In addition, she reveals the distinctive art and architecture that abound in the wineries, while fine cuisine, fresh produce, and eclectic historical sites are never far away."--

The Wines of California

The Wines of California
Author: Stephen Brook
Publisher:
Total Pages: 685
Release: 1999
Genre: Cooking
ISBN: 9780571190294
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This text sets out to show why Californian wines are now recognized as among the finest in the world. It looks at the particular wine-making practices of the region and features a gazetteer detailing over 630 different wineries, along with lists of single vineyards.

Wines of California

Wines of California
Author: Stephen Brook
Publisher: Mitchell Beazley
Total Pages: 685
Release: 2003-01-01
Genre: Cooking
ISBN: 9781840008067
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The wine industry in California was founded over 150 years ago, and by the end of the nineteenth century Napa Valley and Santa Cruz were celebrated for the excellence of their wines. Then the double blow of phylloxera and Prohibition almost eradicated the production of fine wines. But a handful of energetic individuals revived the wine industry in the 1960s and within a decade California wines were being recognized as among the finest in the world. The Californians were unwilling to rest on their laurels and have gone from strength to strength.

The Finest Wines of Bordeaux

The Finest Wines of Bordeaux
Author: James Lawther
Publisher: Univ of California Press
Total Pages: 319
Release: 2010-09-07
Genre: Cooking
ISBN: 0520266579
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Bordeaux has long symbolized the peak of prestige for French wine. Yet, despite its outstanding reputation, the region has remained relatively closed to consumers. This book identifies 90 producers from both the Left and Right banks with the finest wines, and takes us inside their chateaux. It also contains chapters on history and winemaking.

The Finest Wines of Burgundy

The Finest Wines of Burgundy
Author: Bill Nanson
Publisher: World's Finest Wines
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2012
Genre: Cooking
ISBN: 9780520272019
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Burgundy has a far stronger hold over the imagination and passions of wine lovers than the relatively modest number of bottles it produces. Over the centuries, hundreds of plots of vineyard land were demarcated, farmed, and individually named. The monks who did this work noticed that each vineyard had a slightly different character, and that this difference was consistently expressed each year in the wine it produced. Today we call this phenomenon terroir, and in Burgundy it finds its fullest expression through the region's signature varieties, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. This sumptuously illustrated and beautifully produced guide, complete with maps and more than 150 full-color photographs, leads readers on a journey through the well-worn vineyard paths and into the cellars of the Côte d'Or. Bill Nanson's informative narrative describes the region's vineyards and vintages, as well as the cultural, historical, and personal realities involved in their translation into wine.

The Finest Wines of Rioja and Northwest Spain

The Finest Wines of Rioja and Northwest Spain
Author: Jesús Barquín
Publisher: World's Finest Wines
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2011
Genre: Cooking
ISBN: 9780520269217
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Picturesque Rioja, Spain's most prominent wine region, is a new world within a very old world. Winemaking here dates to Roman and medieval times, and today modern wineries designed by Gehry, Calatrava, and other celebrity architects flourish alongside traditional villages. Lavishly illustrated with photographs of the people and landscape and with detailed maps, this guide ranges over a diverse area from Rioja to Navarra, Bierzo, Galicia, and the Basque country as it explores winemaking from the ancient to the traditional and modern. Written by a trio of experts on Spanish wine, it provides insider information on a region home to Spain's finest Tempranillo, its prestigious Albariño, and many other indigenous grape varieties such as Garnacha, Mazuelo, and Viura. The authors look in depth at topics including climate and soil, grape varieties, and viticulture, and profile more than 85 individual wineries. They also include information not available elsewhere: several top ten lists plus "secret addresses" for the best restaurants and shops in which to find aged and historic vintages of Rioja.