Gardens of the Wine Country [Hardcover]

Molly Chappellet (Author), Richard Tracy (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 1998

Visit the most exclusive and spectacular gardens of the California Napa Valley, where fragrant flowers, enchanting pathways, and astonishing vistas await at every turn. Gardens of the Wine Country transports you to this lovely region's 40 most glorious private gardens. Molly Chappellet and Richard Tracy walk us through the regal grounds of Beaulieu Vineyard and Francis and Eleanor Coppola's Victorian paradise. We tour the secluded gardens of Peter Newton, stroll among hundreds of rose bushes at the home of Maria Minetti Farrow, and call on many other gorgeous estates. Page after page of lush photographs reveal beautiful verandahs and solariums, ponds and boxwood hedges, wild vines and tailored flower beds. Gardens of Wine Country offers abundant evidence of the joyful dedication that such a fertile region can inspire in those who love gardens.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The Napa Valley is a famous vintner's paradise, with its long, warm summers and mild winters. Naturally, this also makes it a gardener's paradise, and longtime Napa winery owner Molly Chappellet has an intimate knowledge of each nook and cranny of this horticultural Eden. Napa Valley's oldest gardens were planted around 1860, at about the same time grapevines were introduced to the region, and though there are only a handful of these, their enormous oaks and antique roses perfectly fit the image of old Napa homesteads. The gardens at Schramsberg, Beaulieu, Spottswoode, Krug, and the Niebaum estate (now owned by Francis and Eleanor Coppola), to drop a few well-known winery names, fall into this category.

Chappellet and her collaborator, Richard Tracy, define "new gardens" as those developed since 1960, some by the enthusiastic new winemakers who brought new life to the Napa region. These gardens are numerous, breathtakingly beautiful, and have apparently provided abundant employment to a number of talented landscape designers over the past three decades. In many cases, a heroic amount of work was done to tame, for example, a rocky hillside into a proper Mediterranean-style villa garden, and Chappellet and Tracy note the details down to the individual plant names. The numerous color photographs, clearly often taken at daybreak and just before sunset, show off the calm, lush gardens to perfection.

Review

'We do not need to venture as far as the Riviera for brilliant gardens and intricate landscaping. There is, it turns out, plenty of breathtaking vegetation in California's own Napa Valley. Like Jerry and K.C. Cunningham's parterre, where a rectangular pool sits among boxwood-enclosed lavender and white roses. Or Peter and Su Hua Newton's Chinese-style tea house, situated against a backdrop of wisteria vines golden cypress and roses. These are just two of the botanical designs in Molly Chappellett and Richard Tracy's 'Gardens of the Wine Country' the highlight of which is Francis and Elenor Coppola's estate-where dogwood, Japanese maple and peony decorate the grounds, and the Quercus lobata (an ancient oak) towers above the main house." -- Wall Street Journal

Question: Where do architects design houses that look like Norman estates, gardeners plant 10,000 bulbs in a single bed, and swans serve as the prop of choice? Answer: In California's Napa Valley, as Molly Chappellet and Richard Tracy vividly demonstrate in Gardens of the Wine Country. More than 200 pages of stunning photographs show what money can buy, be it a Tuscan-style villa or gracious estate studded with century-old palms. -- Gardner

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 204 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books (August 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811816974
• ISBN-13: 978-0811816977
• Product Dimensions: 11.8 x 9.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #161,106 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Absolutely Breathtaking Pictoral of Napa Valley Gardens, March 25, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Gardens of the Wine Country (Hardcover)

What an amazing glimpse into the world of Napa Valley Gardening. The author has brilliantly selected a wide variety of gardens, from the traditional Victorian gardens we expect, to the new age ideas of more modern gardeners.Molly says in the introduction that she fell in love with all of the gardens over and over...you can tell. Adding personality to the gardens, by telling us that each garden has the fingerprint of its owner...makes them really come to life...they seem much more like personal playgrounds than showpieces.A lovely book, perfect for anyone's spring/summer coffee table.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The classic book on the gardens of Napa Valley, June 28, 2009

By 

J. Landau (Orinda, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gardens of the Wine Country (Hardcover)

This is "the real deal", a focus on the gardens of Napa Valley including both older gardens, in many instances originally established almost a century ago, but with plenty of the best of more recent gardens as well, at least as of the publication date. Many of the oldest wine country names are here, but most of the book shows the best of the more recent gardens. The focus is on the gardens rather than the wineries or homes, specifically identifying plants, locations and wineries, most of which you can visit. Although many are affiliated with wineries, the book shows the best private gardens, all on the beautiful settings of the valley. The range of properties is substantial, from chateaux style to farm house, and the styles of gardening are just as broad. There are formal gardens by Thomas Church, wonderful Jonathan Plant projects and there are beautiful informal gardens featuring primarily grasses. Everywhere are wonderful, mature trees.

The photography is excellent and multiple shoots of many properties allow the book to show both spring, summer and autumn foliage at a single property to allow maximum enjoyment. If a single scene deserves it, and many do, there will be a beautiful, two-page color photo. One writer provided amazing access, garden knowledge and a very good eye and the other is a serious garden editor. Together they achieve a good balance between aesthetics and helpful discussion of what makes each garden successful for its owner. The book begs for an update including more recent gardens and those incorporating more outdoor art for which the region has become famous.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Taste the vintage, December 12, 2010

By 

Richard L. Tracy "Richard Tracy, journalist" (Grass Valley, Ca USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Gardens of the Wine Country (Hardcover)

For the average person who has visited the Napa Valley, this book takes you behind closed gates and opens eyes with garden splendor.