On California explores the grapes and the people who have made California wine great.

The pioneers, the boffins, the whizz-kids and scientists, many of whom tell their stories on its pages – some in precious archive material, others have set down their thoughts mid-pandemic in 2021: Randall Grahm, Gerald Asher, Steven Spurrier, Paul Draper and Warren Winiarski take a bow….

Includes:

• California wine and the future: where will the ‘California spirit’ lead next?
• The ‘Hollywood Grape’: our authors chart the path of Cabernet Sauvignon, from the wish-list of Thomas Jefferson to the hallowed hillsides of Stag’s Leap and Screaming Eagle
• 1976? Of course it was a competition! Steven Spurrier and Patricia Gallagher look back at the motivations behind the famous Paris wine tasting
• Top New York sommelier Victoria James tells of her near-death introduction to the whacky world of winemaking in Sonoma
• Will the real Zinfandel please stand up? Paul Draper seeks out the true heritage of California’s versatile orphan grape
• Contributions from top California writers: Elaine Chukan Brown, Mary Margaret McCamic MW, Karen MacNeil, Esther Mobley, Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Liz Thach MW, Clare Tooley MW, and Kelli White
• Hugh Johnson, Jane Anson and Fiona Morrison MW introduce California’s intrepid wine pioneers
• Rex Pickett’s Sideways heroes, Jack and Miles, clink glasses over the Central Coast’s finest Pinot Noir
• A–Z: from ‘Bob’ Mondavi to Xylem sap-sensors and pink Zinfandel – California wine in bite-size