Napa, California – Richard Mendelson, the leading expert on appellation and wine law in the USA, has released “Appellation Napa Valley – Building and Protecting an American Treasure” from Val de Grace Books. In this landmark book, Mendelson, who managed the legal work for many of these very appellations, tells a detailed story of the birth, definition, personalities and protection of America’s most famous wine region.
Fifty years ago, the Napa Valley was a sleepy, inward-looking farm and ranching community, with two dozen wineries, very little art or music, and nowhere exciting to eat. Only a handful of intrepid pioneers believed that the Napa Valley could one day rise up and earn a place alongside Burgundy, Bordeaux, and Tuscany as one of the great wine-producing regions of the world.
And yet, with innovation, intelligence, and a unique spirit of cooperation, those intrepid pioneers built the Napa Valley into a world-renowned center of top-quality grape-growing and wine-making, and a cherished destination for wine and food lovers from all over the globe. How did they do it? What vision and principles guided their way? And what lessons does the Napa experience carry for other wine-producing communities across America and far beyond?
Mendelson answers all those questions, as he takes readers deep inside the key issues — legal, commercial, social, and environmental — that the Napa Valley pioneers wrestled with as ambitious entrepreneurs, yes, but as equally ambitious custodians of the land, soil, and natural resources on which our collective future depends. With his unique insider’s perspective, Mendelson tells not just a riveting regional story, but a story of America itself, working at its very best and in harmony with its most noble practices and ideals.
“Appellation Napa Valley” is available now for order at www.appellationnapavalley.com
About Richard Mendelson: Richard Mendelson earned his law degree from Stanford and then headed for the exciting new frontier for American wine and food: the Napa Valley. Mendelson joined Napa’s leading law firm, Dickenson Peatman & Fogarty, and over the next three decades he helped vintners, grape-growers and policy makers evolve a New World system of appellations, one that promotes Napa’s emerging wine industry and at the same time builds and protects the valley’s agricultural and cultural wealth. In the process, he earned a reputation as one of the preeminent wine lawyers in America.
About Val de Grace Books: Napa-based Val de Grace Books publishes works of exceptional beauty and significance, including “99 Bottles of Wine,” on the art of label design; “Reaching for The Stars,” the history of Constellation Brands; and “Faces of Courage,” about women in danger around the world.