Publisher Description

The beginning of history for California wine starts with 17th century Jesuits and the Mission Grape. But the industry, the commercial powerhouse that commands 60% of the US market, was birthed 200 years later, the product of a Hungarian aristocrat, European grapes and the Sonoma Valley. Wine historian Charles L Sullivan gives the deep and detailed history of Sonoma wine viewed through the foreground of the turbulent story of California's first commercial winery, Buena Vista, from its founding by brilliant but quixotic Agoston Haraszthy, through phyloxera plague and the dry years of prohibition to its present-day market prominence. Sonoma Wine and the Story of Buena Vista is a scholarly study of two centuries of California wine history, told in a riveting narrative that will engage and delight.

Author Biography

"Charles L Sullivan is the single most important wine historian alive today." - Charles E. Olken, Oakland Tribune

Details