American Vintage: The Rise of American Wine

This is one of the best books I've read in a long time. I loved the the history and, as a wine lover, it helped me understand the product and the industry in a way I never did before. I am a management professor at Stanford, so the best part for me was reading about the innovative practices used in the wine industry, the constant experimentation and information sharing that should serve as model for other industries. After reading this book I realized that the wine industry, not the computer industry, is the best model other firms and industries that want to flourish. I'd give this book six stars if I could.

American Vintage is a wonderful combination of history book and fascinating narrative. Lukacs manages to keep the reader captivated by the history of the wine grape in America.

Against the backdrop of 200 years of American life, wine columnist and English Professor, Paul Lukacs, takes us on great ride through the history of wine. Starting with Thomas Jefferson and the earliest views of wine's role in American society, Lukacs' well-researched volume takes us through the country's movement west, prohibition, wine as big business and then wine as art. Along the way, we meet agrarian idealists, businessmen, teetotalers, bootleggers, immigrants and a host of factions all weighing in on the role of wine in American life. Wine enthusiasts will love hearing the inside scoop on how some of the big names in wine got to where they are, and how American wine became a brash world leader. Lukacs covers much more than this, however. We learn about the science behind grape growing and wine making, the affects of government policies on wine availability, a bit about American cuisine, and no small amount of general social history.Lukacs pulls it off. He moves us artfully through these varied sub-topics, and always with a lively, readable style.

After seeing a review of this book in the WSJ I quickly ordered it from my independent bookshop. Am I glad I did. As a new owner of a wine shop I have felt overwhelmed by the body of knowledge required to properly sell my products. This book armed me with a solid background on American wine history. It has already helped me sell my local VA wines! It gave me an increased level of comfort with the background of wine in the U.S. and subsequently increased my comfort level when I talk with cusotmers - both the novice and the wine snob. Anyone who loves wine and enjoys a little historical perspective will adore this book!

This is definitely one of the most interesting books I have read recently, on or off the topic of wine. It is a fascinating story of changes in morality, of perceptions of wine and the world around us, and how an entire nation moved back and forth on its thoughts about food, culture, wine, and much more.The story begins back with Jefferson, who in the late 1700s was a huge proponent of wine. He tried unsuccessfully to grow his own vines, and promoted European winedrinking at the white house and in his circles of friends. In 1803 winemaking really begins with Nicholas Longworth in Ohio, with sweet whites.In the 1850s a huge temperance movement began, and in the 1860s rot came in and destroyed practically all of the vines. At the same time, phylloxera hit heavily in Europe, destroying vines there. It wasn't until the 1870s that solutions began to be implemented for both of these situations ... but by the 1890s there was once again a boom in planting. At the 1900 Paris Expo, 40 American wineries won awards. Wine was on its way up.Or so people thought. Shortly, the guillotine descended. The death knell for most wineries came with Prohibition in 1917.Ironically, prohibition resulted in more people drinking to get a buzz, and fewer drinking it reasonably with meals. Home winemaking was legal, so the vineyards that remained open did so by selling "pretty" grapes to this market. These were usually bad for actual winemaking, and the home winemakers worked on making sweet, fortified wines for maximum results and to overwhelm the taste. By the time prohibition ended in 1933, the US winery count had dropped from over 1000 down to 150. Some states stayed dry long after this - Mississippi was the last state to allow alcohol, in 1966.It was in the late 60s that wine consumption began to rise again - food quality was increasing, people were appreciating more and more foods, and the food they made was able to pair well with wines. At the same time, wine quality was ever increasing. In a famous blind tasting in Paris in 1976, a Stag's Leap 1973 Cabernet and a Chateau Montelena 1973 Chardonnay were rated the top two wines - over two top French wines. Not only that, but the wine tasters consistantly made comments that this one was 'obviously French' or that one was a 'pedestrian American' and were wrong almost every time.A mere quarter century later, we have fantastic wines being created in just about every state in America, winery tours are booming business, Americans are drinking more and more wine, and the book charts the entire route. The people, events, and situations are richly described, and catch you up in the story.The book is simply fascinating in many, many ways. Be sure to pick up a copy for yourself!