Napa Valley, Then & Now is an in-depth look at the history, the land, the wineries, and the wines of Napa Valley, with a special emphasis on tasting notes of older vintages.
Written by sommelier Kelli Audrey White, this book serves as a much-needed definitive guide to one of the world’s most celebrated wine regions. Exhaustively researched and thoughtfully organized, Napa Valley, Then & Now chronicles the rise of Napa’s wine industry from its earliest days to its current glory, examining its triumphs and failures along the way. Critically, it also checks in on the current state of many of Napa’s historic wines and vintages, just as interest in this heretofore marginalized category of wine is starting to grow.
For too long, California wines were considered unworthy of great age. White seeks to dispel that notion, and is uniquely qualified to do so, having spent the last several years tasting through the cellars of countless vintners and private collectors in Napa Valley and beyond. In these pages, she guides the consumer through her findings, not only highlighting what to pursue and what to avoid, but providing context for each wine so that it might be understood as part of a larger historical narrative. In short, this is a singular, exceptional work that is a great addition to the annals of wine scholarship.
