The California Wine Lovers Bible

You! Wine lover! Trying to find the words to express what you are tasting beyond 'yuk' or 'yum'? Endeavoring to discover from whence comes the great pleasures of Sonoma Chardonnay clearly challenging the great White Burgundies? And that Napa Cabernet Sauvignon is pushing to the margins the classified growths of Bordeaux, long the acknowledged greatest of the world's red wines? THE CALIFORNIA WINE LOVE'S BIBLE aims to bring you into the vineyards and microclimates, the barrel rooms and the families of the winery heroes who have been responsible for what has happened to wine in California. Clearly the United States has made contributions to the world. A meritocratic society leading the world in personal liberties? Yes? And the country that contributed aid and flesh during World Wars I and II? Of course. Our theater and literature are without doubt treasured throughout the world. Our best movies compete with the world's best. Our music and black jazz are ubiquitous. Our painters have changed perception as to what a post-modern consciousness is. However the image of California has been limited to Hollywood blockbusters of gore and grandiosity, bimbo blonds, the Golden Gate Bridge and surfboards. Many Europeans, especially the French, have long sneered at California culture and long thought that the natives of the Golden State spent their days swinging from branches while eating unripe bananas. Baseless slurs by ignoramuses? Not so fast. We are known by what we do. Our actions are our character. And California as the home to good but cheap jug wine had told the rest of the United States at least that its wine production was summarized by healthy grapes grown in volume in an industrial cultivation. That's not exactly a statement of a great wine growing region's cultural contribution to humanity.