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AMERICAN VINTAGE

Name: AMERICAN VINTAGE
Author: Paul Lukacs
ISBN: 0-395-91478-7

THE RISE OF AMERICAN WINE

by Paul Lukacs ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 16, 2000

There is currently a debate in wine circles about whether all bottles of wine need to breathe. But there is little debate...

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The history of American winemaking, by now pretty well-turned ground, gets a further spading from Washington Times wine columnist Lukacs.

It all started, if you can believe it, nearly 200 years back in Cincinnati—with Nicholas Longworth’s Sparkling Catawba. Since then, American wine has gone through as many different phases as the moon, and Lukacs’s survey offers a ready guide to most of them: from Thomas Jefferson’s paeans to the great democratic grape on through the romanticism of the early aristocratic winegrowers and the importance of immigrants (not just in winemaking, but in bringing wine from the farmhouse table to the city table—since working-class families demanded the drink of their home countries). The author has an undeniable passion for his subject, but he incorporates a level of detail into the narrative that works against the book’s broad canvas. He is not content simply to introduce the major players and themes; he includes the topics like the growth of cooperatives in conjunction with fancy labels, the impact of organized crime on the quality of product, and the bringing of science to the garden. While there is no way his selection of boutique wineries could cover all the bases—and many of his choices, such as his neglect of Sean Thackrey, will be the object of much quibbling—he does amply convey the importance of these wineries in setting industry standards. But, oddly, despite the attention he devotes to such small producers, he fails to highlight the critical role women played in these concerns. And when will American vineyards finally stop measuring everything they do against the example of the French?

There is currently a debate in wine circles about whether all bottles of wine need to breathe. But there is little debate that American winemaking history has had sufficient aeration—with the result that the subject is getting flat.

Pub Date: Nov. 16, 2000

ISBN: 0-395-91478-7

Page Count: 304

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2000

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.