The Word from Wine Country

Edward Humes & Barbara Banke (seated)

The Santa Rosa Press-Democrat has a great feature about A Man and His Mountain, wine magnate Barbara Banke, and the rise of the Kendall-Jackson wine empire from humble beginnings: "Humes recreates scenes from when Jackson, a San Francisco lawyer, was looking for a vineyard retreat. He drove around Wine Country in a Cadillac nicknamed the “yellow banana” — given to him by a client who couldn’t pay cash for his legal services — with his first wife, Jane, and children Jenny and Laura in tow, knocking on the doors of esteemed winemakers to learn about the trade."

Next take a look at this great rundown on the best wine books of the season, which I'm happy to say includes A Man and His Mountain. Reviewer Virginie Boone calls it "the kind of story movie directors covet. It starts with a 'street-smart farm boy' buying his first vineyard and ends with a self-made billionaire owning some 14,000 acres of vineyard land and the most popular Chardonnay brand in the world."

P.S. Join me Saturday December 7 at 3 p.m. at Apostrophe Books in Long Beach for a book chat, signing and a glass of wine.