Somehow one doesn’t expect to find a book review of a book one read decades ago but it is a terrific book. Darlington also wrote a book about Area 51–where we keep all our flying saucers–and another book,An Ideal Wine, about a group of younger winemakers.It is full of interesting stories.My favorite part is the lunch with Kermit Lynch and Randall Grahm.
I just had lunch with an old friend who used to sell Ridge wines. I remember buying maybe fifty cases of the '74 Ridge Lytton Springs Zin. At the time, he said something like …you’re going to thank me for talking you into buying this wine…$4.75 retail. Twenty years later Paul Draper opened a bottle of the same wine…absolutely magnificent.
Anyway, my friend thinks he was hired because he had the same last name as a famous family of bankers in SF…and he worked cheap.