Review by Booklist Review
As one of the authors' chapter titles bluntly states, Great Wine Begins with Dirt. The French have in recent years enshrined terroir as the vintners' touchstone and wine lovers' ubiquitous standard. Oenophiles argue that particular conjunctions of soil, rainfall, and other physical conditions affect grapevines from place to place and yield identifiable differences in the resulting wines. Geologists Swinchatt and Howell bring this principle to America and explore the issue of terroir in California's Napa Valley. Their analysis of the famous valley's distinctive geology and geomorphology yields scientifically based conclusions for vintners to exploit. In maps and charts, the authors illustrate how various sorts of bedrock, erosion patterns, soil profiles, rainfall, sun exposure, and the like combine to nourish grapevines. Irrigation techniques prove controversial, hand methods seen by some growers as superior to mechanized drip methods. Vine trimming procedures also come under scrutiny. This work sets standards for other winegrowing areas to analyze their own terroir. Regional collections in all winegrowing areas will find this book uniquely useful. --Mark Knoblauch Copyright 2004 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In this exhaustive and sometimes exhausting book, Swinchatt and Howell take on the Herculean task of explaining how the ?topography, bedrock, sediments and soils, temperature and rainfall??that is, the terroir?of Napa Valley affect the taste of its famous wines. The authors? previous books (The Foundations of Wine in the Napa Valley and Principles of Terrane Analysis) were solid preparation for the difficulty of unraveling this mystery. But the complexity of terroir nonetheless requires painstaking (and passionate) consideration of myriad geological, biological and cultural factors. Everything?the intensity of sunlight, the slope of hills, the length of shadows, the impact of different woods on the wine aging in barrels?comes under the authors? examination. There is even an extensive presentation of Napa?s geological back-story?145 million years of subduction, shifting tectonic plates and magma flows. Puzzling through this intricate matrix of influences are the winemakers themselves, who, the authors say, work with the land in a delicate ?dance.? Sidebars offer sage advice on everything from ?organizing a structured tasting? to ?Pierce?s disease and the glassy-winged sharp-shooter.? And the book lays out two wine-tasting tours through the different parts of the Valley with recommended stops at several wineries. Swinchatt and Howell pursue their topic with patience and profound attention to detail, and their writing is generally earnest and sharp. Though general readers may be daunted by the sheer density of this book?s scientific information, even a quick flip through its many maps, photographs and diagrams can be tremendously informative. (Sept.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
Review by Booklist Review
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
