California's Napa Valley: One Hundred Sixty Years of Wine Making [Hardcover]

William F. Heintz (Author), William Hientz (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...elegantly designed, and filled with the extensive detail and meticulous research for which Heintz is known in the wine industry." -- St. Helena Star

"Noone tells the wine story more authoritatively than Heintz." -- Napa Valley Register

Product Description

This is the first comprehensive history of the wine industry in Napa Valley, the world's greatest wine-growing region. It includes the earliest settlersYankees, German, French, and Italian immigrants, and their efforts to make and market wines, describes the phylloxera infestation which nearly wiped out the vineyards in the late 1800s, the gradual development of fine quality wines which won international prizes. Prohibition and the Depression strongly affected the vineyards;some did not survive. The great boom in California wines after World War II climaxed in the 1970s, when European winemakers began buying vineyards or investing with California vintners to produce unique and magnificent wines of today. The great names are all here: Krug, Beringer, Schram, Tychson, Niebaum, de Latour, L. Martini, Mondavi, Trefethen, Hess, and many new winemakers, including a number of women.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 500 pages
• Publisher: Scottwall Associates (June 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0942087151
• ISBN-13: 978-0942087154
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,782,035 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars The most informative book on Napa Valley, July 25, 2005

By	James Leigh "Grandpa" (San Francisco) - See all my reviews

This review is from: California's Napa Valley: One Hundred Sixty Years of Wine Making (Hardcover)

This is not a splashy picture book, but a thorough and highly informative history of wine making in the Napa Valley, from the earliest German, French and Italian vintners to the present. The book gives a history of the development of varietal wines in the prime wine region of America, or perhaps in the world. It is particularly interesting for its treatment of the Prohibition era, when wine makers resorted to astonishing measures to stay solvent. Handsome hardcover volume, very well designed, with excellent black and white illustrations.

5.0 out of 5 stars Anthony, February 19, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: California's Napa Valley: One Hundred Sixty Years of Wine Making (Hardcover)

This one of the most entertaining books I've read about the region. Mr. Heintz paints a very colorful picture while introducing you to the more interesting facts concerning the areas history.