Soft Soil, Black Grapes: The Birth of Italian Winemaking in California

Winner of the 2013 New York Book Show Award in Scholarly/Professional Book Design

From Ernest and Julio Gallo to Francis Ford Coppola, Italians have shaped the history of California wine. More than any other group, Italian immigrants and their families have made California viticulture one of America’s most distinctive and vibrant achievements, from boutique vineyards in the Sonoma hills to the massive industrial wineries of the Central Valley. But how did a small group of nineteenth-century ...