Now that harvest is over, growers and winemakers have a little more time to do some reading, and what better holiday gift than one of the new books on grapegrowing or winemaking?

Winegrape production guide
For Eastern grapegrowers, one of the most valuable reference books published in 2009 is Wine Grape Production Guide for Eastern North America. This comprehensive resource guide was written by 16 viticultural experts from Cornell University, Pennsylvania State University, Brock University, Michigan State University and Virginia Tech.

Wine Grape Production Guide is a much-expanded update of an earlier manual, The Mid-Atlantic Winegrape Grower’s Guide, published in 1995. In addition to an increase in scope, depth and authorship, it incorporates the advances in research and shared industry experiences that have provided new insights and practical knowledge. Subjects range from vineyard site selection, design and establishment to pest and weed control, yield estimation and crop management. Other chapters include costs and returns of vineyard establishment and operation, grape purchasing contracts, vineyard leases and many other topics.

Because the book’s intended audience is established growers with some experience, novices may find some of the material challenging. While other readers may want to seek more in-depth coverage, this guide is essential reading for anyone involved in growing grapes in eastern North America.

For growers in the upper Midwest, New England and eastern Canada, Wine Grape Production Guide complements another excellent book published in 2009, Northern Winework: Growing Grapes and Making Wine in Cold Climates by Thomas Plocher and Robert J. Parke (reviewed in the September 2009 issue of Wines & Vines), which concentrates on new material applicable to cold climates.

Wine Grape Production Guide for Eastern North America, edited by Tony K. Wolf. viii + 336 pages. Ithaca, N.Y.: Natural Resource, Agriculture and Engineering Service Cooperative Extension. Flexible cover, spiral bound, $75.00 + $9.50 shipping and handling (order online at nraes.org). Includes 174 color photos, 40 line drawings and 42 tables.

Legal history of wine in America
Richard Mendelson’s just-published book, From Demon to Darling: A Legal History of Wine in America, is invaluable in providing the reader with a vital understanding of the cultural attitudes towards wine that have made it an object of both adoration and attack during the course of American history.

The book’s premise is stated at the outset: “Wine has been alternatively the demon and darling of American society since colonial times. Any thought that this duality no longer exists is misguided.”

Mendelson is an attorney working in the Napa Valley and, although his book is titled a legal history, it is very much a social history as well. The way wine has been regulated and made the subject of laws makes its legal status a central reference point throughout the book.

The first two chapters, “Temperance” and “National Prohibition,” trace wine in the U.S. from the 1600s through Prohibition. The third chapter, “Solving Problems Past,” delves into the way wine and other alcoholic beverages were treated by federal and state governments in the wake of Prohibition. Mendelson reviews local option, liquor control systems, state monopolies, licensing and taxation very carefully, and he pays special attention to the forces that shaped various regulations and laws.

The final chapter, “Transforming Wine in American Culture,” starts with issues such as wine labeling and appellations of origin, then moves into warning labels, ingredient labeling and the dilemma facing TTB following the French Paradox. The final part details issues surrounding direct shipping and interstate commerce. Mendelson makes the point that the Granholm v. Heald case and the question of market access to wine focused the attention of the public, the judiciary and legislators in a way that gives wine a real chance to become accepted as a civilized and temperate beverage.

Mendelson’s message is this: Without an appreciation of the concerns that motivate anti-alcohol activists, an understanding of the place of wine, beer and spirits in American history, and a willingness to participate actively in public policy debates about wine, “wine will not achieve or maintain its rightful place as a beverage of temperance, culture and health in America.” This is why Mendelson’s book is important.

From Demon to Darling: A Legal History of Wine in America, by Richard Mendelson. xvii + 302 pages. Berkeley: University of California Press. Hardback, $29.95.

Niagara’s wine pioneers
Linda Bramble is a well-known Ontario wine writer who teaches wine appreciation, sales and service at Brock University’s Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute. Her book, Niagara’s Wine Visionaries: Profiles of the Pioneering Winemakers, tells the story of the modern history of Ontario’s wine industry by profiling some of the people who in the course of a few decades brought international recognition to Ontario wines.

Perhaps the most important profile is that of Donald Ziraldo, who, with Karl Kaiser, founded Inniskillin Wines, the first winery to open after the end of Prohibition in Ontario five decades earlier. Kaiser has been credited with being the father of ice wine in Ontario, and Ziraldo as being the person who, more than anyone, was responsible for establishing Ontario’s international reputation for ice wine. Additionally, Ziraldo was the leader in founding the Vintners Quality Alliance (VQA), Ontario’s appellation of origin.

Other chapters include profiles of Len Pennachetti of Cold Spring Cellars, who, along with Ziraldo, codified VQA regulations; Paul Bosc, founder of Château des Charmes, whose research included selecting vines for winter hardiness; Don Triggs, who presided over the rise of Vincor International; and Andrew Pelle r and his sons John and Joe, founders of Andrés Wines and Andrew Peller Ltd. Also profiled are Paul Speck’s Henry of Pelham and Norm Beal’s Peninsula Ridge Estates. A chapter is devoted to Linda Franklin, executive director of the Wine Council of Ontario for 14 years.

Bramble has known and written about all of these people, and her profiles are presented in an engaging, easy-to-read style. The weakest section is the chapter covering the period from 1933 through the 1960s, before the people profiled in the remainder of the book began their work. This chapter is more history than profile, and the few errors I found in the book are related to these years -- the most serious of which credited Konstantin Frank as being the first to plant vinifera successfully in the East. That honor goes to Brights Wines, which years earlier planted the first successful commercial vinifera vineyard in the East, and in 1955 and 1956 released the first two commercial vinifera wines, a Pinot Champagne and a Pinot Chardonnay, landmarks in Ontario wine history.

Overall, this book is highly recommended as a portrait of the Ontario wine industry as it earned its international reputation.

Niagara’s Wine Visionaries: Profiles of the Pioneering Winemakers, by Linda Bramble. 224 pages. Toronto: James Lorimer & Co. Ltd. Hardback, $29.95.