The juice: vinous veritas

Introduction

Acid Trips: Some Whites and Pinks to Start

White Wine on the Rocks: Chablis

Cold Heaven, Hot Mama

Oh No! Not Pinot Grigio!

Pop Pop, Fizz Fizz

German Made Simple

Finally Fashionable: Rosé from Provence to Long Island

Lean and Fleshy: The Paradox of Santa Rita Hills Chardonnay

Rose Champagne: Not Just for Stage Door Johnnies

A Debilitating Pleasure: Tavel

Grape Nuts

The Founding Wine Geek

Writer, Importer, Gentleman Spy

The Salesman with the Golden Palate

The Retro Dudes of Napa

The Rock Stars of Pinot Noir

My Kind of Cellar: Ted Conklin and the American Hotel

A Tuscan in the House: Julian Niccolini and the Four Seasons

Not Just Mario's Partner: Joe "Vino" Bastianich Breaks Out

The Wild Wizard of the Loire

Is Biodynamics a Hoax?

The Modigliani of Healdsburg

The Odd Couple

Mondavi on Mondavi

The Red and the Black

Does Bordeaux Still Matter?

The Exquisite Sisters of Margaux

Big Aussie Monsters

Is Cornas Finally Having Its Moment?

Barbera: Piedmont's Everyday Red

Reasons to Be Cheerful: Barolo and Barbaresco

Blood, Sweat, and Leaps of Faith

The Woman with All the Toys

The Whole Spice Rack: Old-School Rioja

Zowie!

Heartbreak Hill or, The Golden Slope

Becky Wasserman: The American Godmother of Burgundy

A Grace Kelly of a Wine: Puligny-Montrachet

Secrets of Meursault

Jacques's Domaine

Starchild and the Marquis: Earthiness Meets Refinement in Volnay

Off the Main Drag: Savigny-lès-Beaune

Peasants and Plutocrats: La Paulée de New York

Off the Beaten Path

Way Down South: The Great Whites, and Reds, of Hamilton Russell

Blending Their Way to an Identity: Paso Robles

Kiwi Reds from Craggy Range

Spanish Olympian

Location, Location, Location

Swashbuckling Dandy: Talbott

Better Late Than Never: Ridge

Old World Head, New World Body: The Reds of Priorat

Over the Top

His Magnum Is Bigger Than Yours

Aged Effervescence: 1996 Champagne

A Towering Red: Chateau Latour

What to Drink with Thirty-Seven Courses: El Bulli

Epilogue

Travels with Lora

Acknowledgments