Bottled Poetry: Napa Winemaking from Prohibition to the Modern Era
For wine connoisseurs, a winery's Napa Valley location on a label generally indicates a certain quality. Historian Lapsley renders a detailed overview of winemaking in the Napa region, focusing primarily on activities from the repeal of Prohibition in 1934 through the 1970s. Lapsley recalls the dominance of so-called sweet or dessert wines before the emergence of the fine wines that are now overwhelmingly associated with northern California and goes on to track the eventual development of premium dry varietal wines and the determined wine makers who first produced and marketed excellent wines with great character--in the tradition that currently exists.Alice Joyce