Soft Soil, Black Grapes: The Birth of Italian Winemaking in California  (Nation of Newcomers: Immigrant History As American History)
History professor Cinotto traces a unique path in this study of the origins of California’s wine industry. He focuses on the role of Italian immigrants in establishing those now-famous vineyards and wineries that came to dominate the business. Earlier historians have posited a translation of Italy’s Piedmont vineyards into the valleys north of San Francisco, but Cinotto marshals evidence that the Gallos, Rossis, Guastis, and other North Italians founded and grew their businesses along family, ethnic, and racial lines and had possessed little winemaking experience in their native Piedmont. They held onto the strong bonds of extended family, encouraging whole clan lines to depart Italy for America’s promise. In the process, they often exploited the labor of other immigrant groups, such as the Chinese, Japanese, and Mexicans. Remaining aloof and academically rigorous, Cinotto alludes only tangentially to the dysfunctional and frequently scandal-ridden generations that inherited these corporations whose worth grew exponentially after the repeal of Prohibition. --Mark Knoblauch