Doug Shafer
At the age of 47, when he a successful publishing executive and living with his wife and four children in an affluent Chicago suburb, John Shafer made the surprise announcement that he had purchased a vineyard in the Napa Valley. In 1973, he moved his family to California and, with no knowledge of winemaking, began the journey that would lead him, thirty years later, to own and operate what distinguished wine critic Robert M. Parker, Jr. called â€œone of the worldâ€™s greatest wineries.â€ This book, narrated by Shaferâ€™s son Doug, is a personal account of how his father turned his midlife dream into a remarkable success story.,Set against the backdrop of Napa Valleyâ€™s transformation from a rural backwater in the 1970s through its emergence today as one of the top wine regions in the world, the book begins with the wineryâ€™s shaky start and takes the reader through the father and sonâ€™s ongoing battles against killer bugs, cellar disasters, local politics, changing consumer tastes, and the volatility of nature itself. Doug Shafer tells the story of his own education, as well as Shafer Vineyardsâ€™ innovative efforts to be environmentally sustainable, its role in spearheading the designation of a Stags Leap American Viticultural Area, and how the wine industry has changed in the contemporary era of custom-crushing and hobbyist winery investors.
Alcohol,Wine
A Vineyard in Napa