American Wine by Anthony Dias Blue

The incomparable Anthony Dias Blue—the world's leading expert on American wine—has revised and updated his definitive reference on America's wine-producing regions and wines. Both entertaining and informative American Wine takes the risk out of choosing the best wines and the best values—with maps, winery profiles, comprehensive tasting notes, ratings, and recommendations on more than 5,000 wines.

Anthony Dias Blue is universally praised for his unpretentious wine prose—often witty and always thoroughly original—and for the authoritativeness and strength of his opinions. American Wine sparkles with the same spirit and sharp critical perspective that make his newspaper and magazine columns and radio segments so popular. Blue introduces the reader to the wealth of American wines and wineries from their beginnings to the present and gives background on American grapes, wine production techniques, and his amusing hypotheses on primitive man's discovery of wine.

The heart of the book is the comprehensive listing, arranged by region, of more than 900 wineries, each including a description of the owners/founders, and a list of important characteristics, including vintage, type, and price, of all the wines produced by the winery. Thorough descriptions of each wine are provided as well as guidelines as to when the wines are ready. Individual wines are given quality ratings; Blue's rating system is easy to use and clearly highlights special bargains.

With the seasoned eye and palate that years of experience have given him, Blue has researched and written this compendium with gusto, and the first edition of American Wine has been a resounding success. Updated and revised, this volume is indispensable to anyone how buys wine.