The Great Wines of America: The Top Forty Vintners, Vineyards, and Vintages
Determining the best of anything is generally an exercise in subjectivity, but here Lukacs makes the field broad enough and defends his choices well enough to lend his selection an air of authority. Lukacs aims not just to pick 40 great wines but also to tell the stories of how these wines arose from the creativity, inspiration, and hard work of vintners who have carefully chosen which varieties of grapes thrive best in their vineyards and which techniques yield the finest products from America's unique soils. Most of these vintages come from California, Oregon, and Washington, but a few hail from the East Coast states. Even the Midwest contributes a red wine from Missouri and a champagne from Michigan. Although these wines are not cheap (one rare artisanal red selling for more than $200 per bottle), there are several for less than $20. But the tales Lukacs tells of the men and women who have dedicated their lives to making great wines in America give the book its real substance.Mark KnoblauchCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved