Washington Wine Country

The photos in this short paperback are stunning. This owes a lot to the natural beauty of the Washington environment, but the photographers deserve huge kudos for getting these fleeting shots. Washington state isn't all rain and clouds (don't let anyone know I told you that). Each page is either filled with full-page photos or text describing Washington wines. On the sidebar of each textual page is a short profile of the winemaker or owner of a Washington winery. These short passages bring the reader much closer to the subject and the smiling faces of the winemakers give more proof to the claim that Washington wines are about enjoyment and friendship rather than pretentiousness. The writing in these profiles is a little erratic, though. It seems likely that the author either had the vintners write the profiles themselves and then revised the profiles for publishing. The text itself covers the history of Washington wines, from the earliest days of the first settlers all the way through to 2000. It's treatment is fairly superficial, but enough details are provided to bring together the whole picture for readers. The types of grapes grown in Washington is another section. This is where I think the book gets a little redundant with other wine books. The authors name a varietal, then describe its brief history in the state, then describe how it is used in wine. This is pretty run-of-the-mill stuff that just seems like a rehash here. All in all, I think this book is worth owning, if nothing more than the photos. The profiles are really great and the Washington wine world small enough that these people are very approachable (seriously. try to get out of a conversation with Lou Facelli at the Facelli Winery in under an hour!) I give the book 4 stars because I think a bit of it was just filler. OTOH, extra filler means more space for photos, so it's a pleasant tradeoff.