In An Ideal Wine, David Darlington tells the story of the California wine industry since the early 1970’s — at times in numbing detail.
There is a very interesting story in here, but it’s tougher than it should be to find.
I found the contrast between biodynamics (essentially ecological self-sufficiency) and the use of chemical analysis and alteration to improve Wine Spectator (and other similar scoring systems) to be fascinating.
I am looking forward to a similar “behind the scenes” story of the American craft brewing industry coming out some time soon…
Read the L.A. Times review.