New Classic Winemakers of California: Conversations with Steve Heimoff [Hardcover]

Steve Heimoff (Author), H. William Harlan (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 5, 2007

Wine critic and writer Steve Heimoff, inspired by Robert Benson's Great Winemakers of California (1977), traversed the state of California to record lively and informative conversations with more than two dozen winemakers and grape growers who represent today's leaders and visionaries. While Benson's book captured a wine industry on the brink of exponential growth and recognition, Heimoff surveys a multibillion-dollar business with a global reputation and new issues to face. Heimoff has followed this industry for more than twenty-five years, visiting all parts of the state and monitoring changing styles and trends, and his interviews provide an oral history of contemporary California winemaking. He reveals the personalities, intellects, philosophies, and passions of the individual winemakers, as well as their opinions on recent high-alcohol vintages, globalization, and the "cult" wine phenomenon. Through this intimate and engaging book, wine lovers can sit in on the back and forth as Heimoff and his vintner subjects talk informally about their favorite subject: wine.
THE INTERVIEWEES: John Alban, Mark Aubert, Heidi Peterson Barrett, Andy Beckstoffer, Greg Brewer, Merry Edwards, Elias Fernandez, Gina Gallo, Rolando Herrera, Genevieve Janssens, Kathy Joseph, Greg La Follette, Adam and Dianna Lee, Dan Morgan Lee, Bob Levy, Rick Longoria, Javier Tapia Meza, Gary, Jeff, and Mark Pisoni, Kent Rosenblum, Ted Seghesio, Doug Shafer, Justin Smith, Tony Soter, Brian Talley, Michael Terrien, Randy Ullom, Margo van Staaveren, Bill Wathan

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

"This book is intellectual eavesdropping for wine lovers. Steve Heimoff asks all the right questions, and then wisely lets the winemakers take center stage."--Paul Lukacs, author of The Great Wines of America

About the Author

Steve Heimoff is the West Coast editor for Wine Enthusiast magazine and the author of A Wine Journey along the Russian River (UC Press, 2005).

Product Details

• Hardcover: 292 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press; 1 edition (November 5, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520247221
• ISBN-13: 978-0520247222
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,290,102 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "New Classic" ... hmm!? -- Nonetheless, a fascinating book, December 21, 2007

By 

Robert C. Ross (New Jersey) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: New Classic Winemakers of California: Conversations with Steve Heimoff (Hardcover)

I suppose the oxymoron in the title reflects Heimoff's inspiration, Great Winemakers of California: Conversations with Robert Benson (Interviews with 28 California Winemakers) (1977). And Heimoff's book is a wonderful modern day realization of that template.

Heimoff is the West Coast editor for "Wine Enthusiast" magazine and the author of A Wine Journey along the Russian River, another excellent book on California wine.

A few highlights: Dan Morgan Lee describes the benefits of using clones of Dijon 115, 667 and 777 with Wadenswil 2A, clone 12, clone 23 and Pommard, a little bit of geek talk, but Lee's personality and commitment shine through.

Greg La Follette of De Loach Vineyards and Tandem Winery: "Vladimir Nabokov ... said, 'There is no art without science or fact without fancy,' [and] I'm a believer that the language of wine is actually the language of yeast biology, of vine physiology, of chemistry."

Gina Gallo: "I sometimes think that being able to touch more people with your family's wines is a greater value than making the most iconic wine that only three people in the world can have."

For anyone who likes oral history, this book contains a well edited collection of interviews with winemakers currently making wine. The California University system has been collecting these histories for a number of years; there is an excellent index available free and online through their website: lib.berkeley.edu/

Eric Asimov fairly summarizes the joys of this book on his blog on "The New York Times": "Though he occasionally descends into the winespeak of Brix, malolactic and trellising, Mr. Heimoff stands back as his subjects reveal their industry and themselves. Some seem to be thoughtful and well-rounded, others are fun-loving and down to earth, and a few come across as rampaging egotists. Ego in the wine business? I'm shocked."

Heimoff does provide a good glossary at the end of the book to help with any unfamiliar terms, but it's quite amazing how he captures the personality of each interviewee in a simple Q & A format.

Robert C. Ross 2007 2008

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Terrific book, February 11, 2008

By 

P. Stern - See all my reviews
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This review is from: New Classic Winemakers of California: Conversations with Steve Heimoff (Hardcover)

What a fun and informative book! When one starts reading Heimoff's interviews, they seem a bit slight and unfocused. But as one builds up momentum through the collection, the picture changes. Taken together, the interviews shine a steady beam of light on current winemaking personalities and trends. Heimoff manages to ask numerous winemakers the same sorts of questions (e.g., "What do you make of the recent higher alcohol levels in California wines?"), and the answers are interesting to compare. What comes across in the portraits of the various winemakers is their many interconnections in the world of wine, and their unyielding commitment to quality.

I have only two criticisms. First (not a major point), it would have been nice to include someone from the Santa Cruz mountains. Second, and more substantively, I wish Heimoff had avoided the subject of "cult wines." Do we really care if a tiny group of consumers can afford to pay $500 per bottle? No, we don't. The cult wine thing doesn't come up often in the book, but when it does the book takes on a pretension that is otherwise refreshingly absent.

On the whole, though, a very enjoyable read. Heimoff deserves our thanks for opening up a new window on California wine.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Long Overdue, January 27, 2008

By 

E. Mackey "bigmack" (Sonoma CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: New Classic Winemakers of California: Conversations with Steve Heimoff (Hardcover)

Robert Benson's 1977 book that interviewed California winemakers was one of the most important wine books "early in the game", that is the 1970s when California wine was coming into the mainstream of respectability. Those of us who were trying to learn more really wanted to have "conversations with the winemakers" to understand how they achieved quality and greatness in their wines.

I have been hoping for a modern version of Benson's book for 30 years now. So, congratulations to Steve for finally fulfilling this long-lived desire.

Steve is a penetrating journalist in addition to being very readable. He avoids the cliches and all the cuteness, we see too much of in wine writing today. He goes for the facts as well as the feelings. Here he provides a book that can sit on your desk to be dipped into from time to time, particularly after you have enjoyed wine from one of the subject wine makers. There is almost too much information to absorb in one reading, but in my case I did it, as I could not stop learning more.But here is a book that will last as long as Benson's and will become an essential classic of California wine literature. Glad Steve seized the opportunity to reinvent this good book idea. No one else seemed to have the courage or the initiative.