Napa Stories: Profiles, Reflections, and Recipes from the Napa Valley

Put it this way folks...if it has Michael's name anyway affiliated with it, you can do no wrong by picking it up. Be it his cookbooks, product lines, restaurant, etc. Same holds true with this, lesser known (sadly), work. It is simply a gorgeous, gorgeous treatise to Napa Valley, and as a San Francisco native now living far away from home, I treasure this book. I find that I probably cannot muster together the adequate words to do it justice, but at this price (Bargain priced now), definitely get it. You will not regret it.

Frankly, this book cost more than I usually pay for a bottle of wine. If this book were a bottle of wine, I would buy a case of it and share it with my very best friends. After savoring this classy book the wine you experience will never be the same.Even though Steven Rothfeld's photographs of the Napa Valley and Chef Michael Chiarello's gorgeous presentation of some outstanding cuisine are very pleasing to the eye, the most impressive thing about this book is the history of Napa Valley that unfolds between the photographs.This book is a beautiful seminar on how amazing it is that you can actually buy so many good bottles of wine. Although I have been to Napa Valley on several occasions and have taken more than a few tours through the various wineries, I did not fully appreciate all that is involved in making a good vintage.The history of this famous valley and the many trials and tribulations of the wine makers along with the fickle role of Nature that goes into that bottle of wine you just uncorked will make that first sip a lot more meaningful.

This book is an absolute delight. The sheer intimacy of the stories make you feel like an insider, and it provides an insight to the pioneering spirit that has created an industry. I was completely (and very pleasantly) unprepared for how much I enjoyed this book. It is truly a treasure.

This book is amazing. The stories told by the families are so rich and real that one truly begins to understand why the Napa Valley is so special. Michael Chiarello really does such a nice job with the families in the style and respect he shows (just as I have seen in his Tra Vigne Cookbook, and his PBS shows - Season by Season, and Michael Chiarello's Napa). The photography really brings one right into parts of the Napa Valley that have only been known previously by the people that live there. The recipes are so special too, as they come from the kitchens of these families and from Chiarello. This is simply the best book ever on this very special and beautiful place...America's Tuscany.

The perfect compliment to a great Zin! Passionate and personal accounts of what moved some of the most interesting vintners to create great wines and how they celebrated their accomplishments. Unlike any book I've seen on the Napa Valley, and Michael brings alive the stories and traditions that make this place unique!