Download or read book The Rise of Napa Valley Wineries written by Mark Gudgel and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2023-05-08 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A wine country odyssey. In 1976, the picturesque, agrarian Napa Valley was all but unknown to those who didn't live there. That changed dramatically when Steven Spurrier and Patricia Gallagher decided to host a blind tasting of American and French wines in Paris. When wines from California defeated those of France, the world was shocked, an industry reawakened, and Napa Valley exploded in a frenzy of growth and development. Families who had farmed for generations battled to hang onto their land, and many paid a steep price as the area transformed into one of the world's premier wine-growing regions. Join author Mark Gudgel as he explores the trials and tribulations of Napa's meteoric rise to prominence.