A Tale of Two Valleys



Wine, Wealth, and the Battle for the Good Life in Napa and Sonoma



Alan Deutschman



Broadway Books, 2003



My first trip to Napa and Sonoma was in 1977 when I visited my first wife
and a current girlfriend in San Francisco. Besides, Krug and Martini in
Napa and Sebastiani and Buena Vista in Sonoma there was not much advertised
on the local roads. Mary and I stopped at Mondavi and is was my kismet,
starting my over 25 year wine obsession. Almost every year from then on
until 1984 I returned and noted the increased traffic on Routes 29, 12 and
101 and discovered the new and old wineries and observed both county's build
up. A whole new universe and culture was created right under my gaze between
tasting room visits and wine laden meals.



Business writer Deutschman in 219 crisp, sardonic pages discusses the
detritus of this culture beyond the Bay and Golden Gate Bridges, tracking
late 1990s trends and infrastructure issues and the lives of residents drawn
to the twin wine valleys. Unlike books like James Conaway's Napa, which
fictionalised the growth of Napa, Deutschman's book is less fascinating and
more mundane and factual. This is not a book about the Mondavi's, John
Daniel, Joe Heitz or any of the great families who created the

California fine wine business. Its more about the next, duller, group of
wealthy arrivistes and drop-outs from the corporate wars. If you like wine
it's a good read, if not its like reading all you didn't need to know about
a exurban communities zoning battles. Anyhow, grab a glass of good
zinfandel, and be glad you don't have to drive from Sonoma to Santa Rosa
each day, and enjoy!







Joe Rosenberg

--
Joe "Beppe" Rosenberg