"In the beginning, for me, winemaking was a romanticized notion of putting grape juice into a barrel and allowing time to perform its magic as you sat on the veranda watching the sunset on a Tuscan landscape. For some small wineries, this notion might still ring true, but for the majority of wineries commercially producing quality wines, the reality of winemaking is far more complex. The persistent evolution of the wine industry demands continual...

"Drawing on his deep knowledge and genuine appreciation of winemaking, Isle takes us on a tour of several hundred independently owned wineries around the world-everywhere from France's Burgundy to Oregon's Willamette Valley to the Itata Valley in the southern reaches of Chile-bringing the local vintners to life and describing the different wines they produce in vivid detail. Isle's enthusiasm for the grape growers and winemakers who are working sustainably...