Gerald Asher is the author of The Pleasures of Wine, Vineyard Tales, Wine Journal, and On Wine. As an international wine merchant, he was decorated by the French Government in 1974 for his contribution to French viticulture, in 2001 was named Outstanding Wine Professional of the Year by the James Beard Foundation, and in 2009 was inducted into the Culinary Institute of America's Vintner's Hall of Fame.

List of Maps
Introduction
Part One. France
Fronsac: Chalk and Clay, Legs and Thighs
Vouvray: Tufa and Temperate Summers
Côte Chalonnaise: Limestone Delicacy
White Wines of the Southern Rhône: A Fresh Look at Old Varieties
Muscadet: Ocean Breezes and Estuary Sands
Saint-Emilion: A Jumble of Soils
Chablis: A French Classic from Ancient Seashells
The Other Médoc: Vines and Windmills
Corton: Burgundy's Magic Mountain
Roussillon: Sunlight in a Bottle
Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé: Terres Blanches, Caillottes, and Silex
Champagne: Location, Location, Location
Château Montrose: The Essential Saint-Estèphe
Part Two. Other European Wine Regions
Soave: Old Lava and New Politics
Saar and Ruwer: Riesling, Slate, and Long Summer Days
Brunello di Montalcino: Elegance from an Untamed Land
Rias Baixas-Albariño: A Fragrant Wine of the Sea
Vega Sicilia: A Legend at High Altitude
Part Three. California
Dry Creek Valley: An Easy Grace
Clarksburg: The Right Grape in the Right Place
Carneros: Wind, Fog, and Hardpan
Santa Barbara County: A Geological Quirk
Edna Valley: Marine Sediment and Volcanic Debris
Lodi: Where the Pacific Meets the Sierra Nevada
Mount Veeder: Vines among the Redwoods
Anderson Valley: Gravel and Cobblestones in Arcadia
Rutherford: The Heart of Napa Valley
Index

Gerald Asher, who served as Gourmet's wine editor for thirty years, has drawn together this selection of his essays, published in Gourmet and elsewhere, for the collective insight they give into why a wine should always be an expression of a place and a time. Guiding the reader through twenty-seven diverse wine regions in France, Italy, Spain, Germany, and California, he shows how every wine worth drinking is a reflection of its terroir-in the broadest sense of that untranslatable word. In evocative reminiscences of wines, winemakers, and the meals he has had with them, he weaves together climate, terrain, and local history, sharing his knowledge and experience so skillfully that we learn as we are entertained and come to understand, gradually, that the meaning and pleasure of a wine lie always in the context of its origin and in the concurrence of where, how, and with whom we enjoy it.