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

For a less flattering view of the book, here is my review from the April 2003
California Grapevine wine newsletter:

"A Tale of Two Valleys, Alan Deutschman, Broadway Books (A division of Random
House), New York, 2003, 174 pages, softback, $25. This must be the year for
spending time in a wine growing area and then writing about the political and
social movements within the communities. Earlier this year we had James
Conway's insightful book The Far Side of Eden (reviewed in Vol X, Issue x-Nick
please add the correct cite). Alan Deutschman tries this same approach but
stumbles badly. The author made several very wealthy friends in Silicon Valley
who let him spend time in their weekend retreats in both Napa and Sonoma
Valleys. While Conway seemed to have a depth of insight, Deutschman seems to
have been swept away by geographic stereotypes. In his work, the Napa Valley
has been lost to dot-commers intent on building mansions horribly out of place.
Sonoma continues to struggle against the onslaught but may be losing. If only
the world was this simple.
Again and again I found the author accepting at face value comments made to
him by locals. For example he declares that the Farmer's Market in Sonoma is
held on Wednesday nights so as to exclude the weekenders from San Francisco and
Silicon Valley. (Nick Pg 31) Oh? The farmers and agriculture people I've
spoken to in Sonoma tell me it is held on Wednesdays so that they could have
the weekend off and then have time to harvest before the event. I also found
the author amazingly unaware of the realities of the world. For example, the
author describes going to the Sonoma County Fair and watching the members of
the Future Farmers of America showing the lambs they have raised. The author
is shocked when he learns the winners will not go back to the farms as pets but
will be sold off and slaughtered for food. (Nick pages 145-147.) Deutschman
describes the sale of the animal as a Faustian bargain (Pg 147) of trading a
pet for money. Pet? Pet? I find it hard to believe that even one raised in the
sterile innards of a big city would not have gleaned that farmers raise animals
for slaughter not as pets. The idea that what was going on at the fair was
unusual or sinister leaves me shaking my head in disbelief.
This is the problem I had with the book. As someone raised north of the Golden
Gate bridge much of the book seemed to describe an image not reality. Time and
again the author makes judgments and evaluations I found shallow, superficial
and odd. This book may appeal to those who have stereotyped images of the
citizens of Napa and Sonoma (perhaps the East Coast media types) but I found it
lacked the depth or sophisticated analysis of Conaway's book. Not recommended."

I can't say I disagree with BFSON's review, I suspected that there was much
dilettantish in Deutschman's approach but I lack the knowledge of the people
and events depicted to make a written and potentially libelous judgment.
Besides this board my reviews appear on the Parker-Squires BB as well as
that of Robin Garr as well as off-line in the Baltimore Chronicle,
Woodlawn(MD) Villager and the Matrix a literary mag published in New
Zealand.

Since I liked Conway's Napa I'll have to get the Far Side of Eden book.

--
Joe "Beppe" Rosenberg
"BFSON" > wrote in message
...
> For a less flattering view of the book, here is my review from the April
2003
> California Grapevine wine newsletter:
>
> "A Tale of Two Valleys, Alan Deutschman, Broadway Books (A division of
Random
> House), New York, 2003, 174 pages, softback, $25. This must be the year
for
> spending time in a wine growing area and then writing about the political
and
> social movements within the communities. Earlier this year we had James
> Conway's insightful book The Far Side of Eden (reviewed in Vol X, Issue
x-Nick
> please add the correct cite). Alan Deutschman tries this same approach
but
> stumbles badly. The author made several very wealthy friends in Silicon
Valley
> who let him spend time in their weekend retreats in both Napa and Sonoma
> Valleys. While Conway seemed to have a depth of insight, Deutschman seems
to
> have been swept away by geographic stereotypes. In his work, the Napa
Valley
> has been lost to dot-commers intent on building mansions horribly out of
place.
> Sonoma continues to struggle against the onslaught but may be losing. If
only
> the world was this simple.
> Again and again I found the author accepting at face value comments made
to
> him by locals. For example he declares that the Farmer's Market in Sonoma
is
> held on Wednesday nights so as to exclude the weekenders from San
Francisco and
> Silicon Valley. (Nick Pg 31) Oh? The farmers and agriculture people I've
> spoken to in Sonoma tell me it is held on Wednesdays so that they could
have
> the weekend off and then have time to harvest before the event. I also
found
> the author amazingly unaware of the realities of the world. For example,
the
> author describes going to the Sonoma County Fair and watching the members
of
> the Future Farmers of America showing the lambs they have raised. The
author
> is shocked when he learns the winners will not go back to the farms as
pets but
> will be sold off and slaughtered for food. (Nick pages 145-147.)
Deutschman
> describes the sale of the animal as a Faustian bargain (Pg 147) of trading
a
> pet for money. Pet? Pet? I find it hard to believe that even one raised in
the
> sterile innards of a big city would not have gleaned that farmers raise
animals
> for slaughter not as pets. The idea that what was going on at the fair
was
> unusual or sinister leaves me shaking my head in disbelief.
> This is the problem I had with the book. As someone raised north of the
Golden
> Gate bridge much of the book seemed to describe an image not reality.
Time and
> again the author makes judgments and evaluations I found shallow,
superficial
> and odd. This book may appeal to those who have stereotyped images of the
> citizens of Napa and Sonoma (perhaps the East Coast media types) but I
found it
> lacked the depth or sophisticated analysis of Conaway's book. Not
recommended."

"BFSON" in ...
> For a less flattering view of the book, here is my review from the April
2003
> California Grapevine wine newsletter:

Maybe the wrong place to ask the question, and maybe not even the same
publication -- but you may appreciate it better when I admit my regrets for
not mentioning the _Grapevine_ when I started posting advice on wine
publications in article 7-Oct-83 on net.wines, Usenet's
original wine newsgroup. (At that time _Vintage_ magazine was just about to
stop, the 1984 UC-Sotheby _Book of California Wine_ -- flooding the used
market recently -- was being edited with Bob Thompson's survey of wine
publications including yours, or at least Ponomareff's, from San Diego; and
one or two newfangled publications now popular, though not even mentioned in
the UC-Sotheby book, were ascendant. (Below is that section of the article
I posted, for nostalgia's sake and, again, with apologies. Rest of the
article recommended some general books.) I think also that the number of CA
Pinots has grown.

Best -- Max Hauser


Excerpt from , net.wines, 7 Oct 1983:

For CURRENT information on available wines -- prices, characteristics, and
trends -- nothing beats the serious (i.e., advertisement-free,
subscription-only) wine magazines. I am aware of four major ones: Finigan's
Private Guide to Wines (rather circumspect and button-down in style);
Vintage Magazine; The Underground Wineletter (out of southern California,
and a bit more free-wheeling); and Connoisseurs' Guide to California Wine.
All of these present tasting notes based on blind tastings, conducted far
more professionally (and usually by more-educated palates) than wine reviews
that typically appear in local papers, state fairs, etc. Connoisseurs'
Guide surveys California wines exclusively, but exhaustively; typically it
will provide details and tasting notes on, say, ALL 180 Pinot Noirs
currently available from California wineries. Each of these magazines costs
around US $25 a year. -- Max Hauser

The California Grapevine is still being published (it is California's oldest
wine newsletter-predating Conn Guide by a few months) Nick Ponomareff is still
the editor and publisher. (I'm the asst. editor and also write all the wine
book reviews) Shameless Plug--if anyone wants to see a free copy of an issue
drop me a note via E mail )

In article >, BFSON
> wrote:

> The California Grapevine is still being published (it is California's oldest
> wine newsletter-predating Conn Guide by a few months) Nick Ponomareff is still
> the editor and publisher. (I'm the asst. editor and also write all the wine
> book reviews) Shameless Plug--if anyone wants to see a free copy of an issue
> drop me a note via E mail )

As a grower, I am interested in different publications.

Can you briefly discource on your publication?

Thanks.

Blair

The California Grapevine is a bi-monthly wine newsletter that contains reviews
of new wines (mainly North America and Australia) Each issue also includes a
commentary by Dan Berger and a set of wine book reviews written by me.