While on his honeymoon in 1880, Robert Louis Stevenson (of Treasure Island fame) traveled to the Napa Valley and chanced upon Schramsberg Vineyards, where he tasted California wines. Since Stevenson's time, both Schramsberg, originally founded in 1862, and California wines have evolved dramatically. Here, in glorious images and evocative text -- including Stevenson's essay, "Napa Wines" -- is Schramsberg's remarkable story and its role in the ongoing evolution of California wine.Jamie and Jack Davies, owners of Schramsberg Vineyards, recount how they rescued the abandoned historic site in 1965 and turned it into a thriving modern vineyard specializing in methode champenoise sparkling wines. Splendid color and duotone photographs of the winery, the caves, the vineyards, and the surrounding landscape, made specially for this book by James Alinder, offer revealing details of the life of a winemaker in all seasons of the year.
Sparkling Harvest features an introduction by Hugh Johnson, author of The World Atlas of Wine, and recipes and menus for festive dinners -- by such world-famous chefs as Julia Child, Larry Forgione, and Jeremiah Tower -- that are particularly suited to sparkling wines. And, for both the connoisseur and the neophyte, an illustrated chronology traces the history of sparkling wine from the earliest development of Champagne in France to the present day.
