Sense of Place An Intimate Portrait of the Niebaum Coppola Winery and the Napa Valley or Cocina Vegetariana

Sense of Place: An Intimate Portrait of the Niebaum-Coppola Winery and the Napa Valley

Author: Steven Kolpan

In A Sense of Place , renouned wine expert Steven Kolpan tells the stry of how Francis Ford Coppola brought California's most distinguished and historical vineyard back to life. Gustave Niebaum's Inglenook Estate, started in 1879, was one of California's first established vineyards and the birthplace of its premium wine industry. Generations after Niebaum's death, the vineyard was sold to Heublein (the distributor of Smirnoff Vodka, among others) who broke up the land and changed the brand from a premium, connoisseur wine to a mass-market jug wine. In 1975, Coppola bought the Niebaum residence and the surrounding estate. Along with the original estate reputation, he also brought back some of its original workers, including Rafael Rodriguez, who, in his late seventies, now serves as the vineyard manager and historian. Coppola overcame naysayer, red tape, and financial turmoil to reestablish the winery as a defender of quality, producing wine under four different labels, including the revered winedRubicon and Cask Cabernet. In 1995, Coppola purchased the Inglenook Chateau and its adjacent vineyard, fulfilling his dream of reuniting the original Napa Valley Estate. Kolpan's luscious, flavorful narrative is worth enjoying now and keeping for later.

Publishers Weekly

Kolpan, wine professor at the Culinary Institute of America, tells of the rise, fall and rebirth of the Niebaum-Coppola Winery. In 1879, Gustave Niebaum, a Finnish immigrant, purchased 1000 acres of property in Northern California's Napa Valley, which he christened Inglenook (Scottish for "cozy corner"). Having already made his fortune in the Alaskan fur trade, Niebaum tried his hand at wine making, a venture that proved very profitable. The years following Niebaum's death in 1908, however, were turbulent for Inglenook. Fourteen years of Prohibition nearly forced the winery to close. Even after the law was repealed, Americans were slow in developing a taste for the grape. Consequently, the winery suffered extreme financial difficulties and was sold to corporate interests that had no intention of producing fine wine. In 1975, film director Francis Ford Coppola resuscitated the estate, which had fallen victim to years of mismanagement and neglect. While parts of the book read like publicity material for the Coppola vineyards ("To think of Rubicon [the flagship wine] as a commodity is to ignore its viticulture and viniculture"), Kolpan nicely incorporates vivid figures (including Rafael Rodriguez, a Mexican who started at Inglenook as a migrant worker in the 1940s and now serves as the vineyard manager and historian) and explanations of such viticultural concepts as terroir--the French term for the "elusive, indefinable mix of soil" and climate that gives wines their unique character. Illustrations. (Oct.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Books about: Northwest Homegrown Cookbook Series or Simple Cuisine

Cocina Vegetariana

Author: Ursel Fischer

A new concept in cookbooks, this series is designed for those who want to replicate at home the trendy international cuisine they typically enjoy at restaurants. Simple and nutritious sushi, fish, salad, and wok recipes put elegant appetizers and entrees within reach of the novice cook. Each book in the series contains 50 recipes.

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