Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/111102
chardonnay and most Bordeaux varieties, including sauvignon blanc and cabernet." David Beckstoffer, president and CEO of Beckstoffer Vineyards, based in Napa Valley, is also a fan of the region. The porous red volcanic soils of the Red Hills appellation "are ideal for grape vines and we are very excited about the quality of grapes and wines that are coming out of our vineyards there," he said. "Although no longer 'undiscovered,' the reputation of the region is growing with each vineyard." that there's good fruit (in Lake County), and they can make good wine out of it." Land prices aren't as cheap as they once were, but according to Molnar, they're still well below Napa Valley prices, at $40,000-$45,000 an acre for hillside property. Bill Foley's venture into Lake County follows Foley Family Wines' purchase of a majority interest in Lancaster Estate in Sonoma County. As part of the Langtry/Guenoc purchase, Foley is buying a minority interest in the non-wine-producing parts of the 23,000-acre Langtry property, largely undeveloped land that is mainly in the Guenoc Valley, with some overlap into Napa County. The current owner, Malulani Investments Ltd., has plans and permits for development, which include a resort. Foley is also looking at two other vineyard properties in Lake County, his office confirmed. "There are a lot of things I like about Lake County," Foley said through a spokesperson. "The lakes and the rolling hills are beautiful. As a wine region, it has incredible diversity – it's prime for SPOTLIGHT ON "It is remarkable how far the U.S. wines. And, of course, some wines wine industry has come in such a aren't made from grapes at all, such relatively short period of time," said as Tedeschi Vineyards' pineappleMurphy, who spent two years visbased Maui Blanc and Maui Splash iting and researching the nation's wines from Hawaii. wine regions. "It's certainly not Along with information about news that California, Oregon and appellations, pests, soils, grape Washington produce great wines, types, winemaking techniques and and that Virginia, Missouri and New state history, the book includes sideYork state are coming bars on personalities, on like gangbusters. ranging from a proWhat fascinates me file of the late Robert the most is the high Mondavi to a blurb quality of wines being on one of the newmade in states not est Virginia vintners, generally known for the inimitable Donald them. The relatively Trump. recent development The major producof cold-hardy hybrid ing regions get the grapes, and varieties most ink, logically that are resistant to enough, bu t e v e n fungal disease, allows North Dakota – the farmers to grow quallast state to get a ity grapes in regions bonded winery (in where it once was Produced in coffee-table for2002) – gets a menmat with color photographs impossible." tion for its popular Organized b y and maps, "American Wine" f r u i t a n d r h u b a r b geographic regions, highlights the quality and wines. " A m e r i c a n W i n e " diversity of U.S. wines. "Prohibition may includes snapshots of have set American major regions with information about winemaking back decades in some wine varieties and key wineries. states," Murphy said, "but the Some of the grapes may be unfamovement toward eating and drinkmiliar to readers, such as Brianna, a ing local products, and the economic U.S.-bred hybrid white-wine grape boost of wine-related tourism, have popular in the Midwest, and Norton, allowed everyone to begin catching a native American variety tolerant up. The overall quality of U.S. wines of humidity and widely cultivated in is already remarkable, across all variMissouri and Virginia, and which can eties and styles, and will only get be made into high-quality, dry red better." AMERICAN WINE Yo u k n o w a bout California cabernet. But how's your Wine IQ on Texas tempranillo or Nebraska Brianna? As Jancis Robinson and Linda Murphy point out in their new book, "American Wine," the vine life goes way beyond California these days with the number of producers nationwide booming from 440 in 1970 to more than 7,000 today. Wineries have spread to every U.S. state, as Americans increasingly embraced wine. "This book is a celebration of this delicious and delightful phenomenon, and of just how many Americans have conquered an area of expertise once regarded as quintessentially European," Robinson writes in the preface. Released this spring by the University of California Press (and Mitchell Beazley abroad), "American Wine" is a comprehensive and authoritative reference to the wines, wineries and winemakers of all 50 states. The book is a transatlantic collaboration between the British Robinson, author of "The Oxford Companion to Wine," among other books, and Sonoma County-based Murphy, former wine section editor of The San Francisco Chronicle and current columns editor at Vineyard & Winery Management magazine. 14 V I N E YARD & WINERY MANAGEMENT | Mar - Apr 2013 w w w. v w m m e d i a . c o m