Richard Mendelson brings together his expertise as both a Napa Valley lawyer and a winemaker into this accessible overview of American wine law from colonial times to the present. It is a story of fits and starts that provides a fascinating chronicle of the history of wine in the United States told through the lens of the law. From the country's early support for wine as a beverage to the moral and religious fervor that resulted in Prohibition and to the governmental controls that followed Repeal, Mendelson takes us to the present day--and to the emergence of an authentic and significant wine culture. He explains how current laws shape the wine industry in such areas as pricing and taxation, licensing, appellations, health claims and warnings, labeling, and domestic and international commerce. As he explores these and other legal and policy issues, Mendelson lucidly highlights the concerns that have made wine alternatively the demon or the darling of American society--and at the same time illuminates the ways in which lives and livelihoods are affected by the rise and fall of social movements.
From Demon to Darling
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"A thorough consideration of American wine's legal history."--Sf Chronicle
"Provides the definitive background for understanding the competing legal, political, economic, and social forces shaping the ongoing evolution of America's wine culture."--The World of Fine Wine
"Highly readable . . . Should be a must-read for anyone who wants to produce or sell wine in this country."--San Francisco Chronicle
"Very engaging."--Bookforum
"An engaging style that makes learning how law and wine have intertwined throughout this country's history an enlightening educational journey."--Wine Spectator
From the Inside Flap
"Reflecting America's complicated and often confused cultural identity, laws have long regulated who can and cannot make, sell, distribute, purchase, and drink wine. Richard Mendelson's compelling legal history is detailed but never dry because it reveals as much about Americans' attitudes towards themselves as about their understanding of wine."--Paul Lukacs, author of American Vintage: The Rise of American Wine and The Great Wines of America
"This concise yet well-documented history of how the wine industry has fared, and ultimately triumphed, through temperance, Prohibition, and convoluted control systems makes an enjoyable read for any serious oenophile."--Philip J. Cook, author of Paying the Tab: The Costs and Benefits of Alcohol Control
"This concise yet well-documented history of how the wine industry has fared, and ultimately triumphed, through temperance, Prohibition, and convoluted control systems makes an enjoyable read for any serious oenophile."--Philip J. Cook, author of Paying the Tab: The Costs and Benefits of Alcohol Control
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A concise and comprehensive history of America's love-hate relationship with alcohol
May 25, 2009
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Although Thomas Jefferson and others envisioned a United States of America with a thriving wine culture, the temperance and prohibitionist movements pushed the country in a very different direction. Mendelson traces the early development of viticulture in America, to the rising tide of Prohibitionism, culminating in the failed experiment of the Eighteenth Amendment, to repeal and the jumbled mess of state and federal regulation that followed, to the roaring growth of the wine industry since the 1970s. There is interesting discussion of the battle to define American Viticultural Areas and of recent case law that addresses interstate sale of wine. He concludes that there is still a long way to go before an "authentic wine culture" can take root in America -- with a rational system for the regulation of wine production and sales to go along with it.
It's a great read and includes an excellent bibliography for those who want to dig deeper.
It's a great read and includes an excellent bibliography for those who want to dig deeper.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By Lcdo M. Ruiz
Format:Hardcover
This book is very interesting and easy to read. It is very istructive and the author demostrated he has full knowledge of the matter that he writing about.
You can learn important information in the history of wine in America.
You can learn important information in the history of wine in America.
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Much of the current state of the US wine world is determined by the past which still lingers on from its grave -- the death of the constitutional amendment that created Prohibition has long tenticles that are still around -- and now new forms of change, some maybe good and some maybe not so good are circling on the horizon. Read this to get a good grasp of the the issues -- and keep a note pad handy for some of this gets tricky.
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