BR: Wines of Calif/MikeDesimone & JeffJenssen

Susan got this wine book for me for Christmas (as she rolled her eyes and said "What do you need yet another wine book for??":
Wines of California: The Comprehensive Guide by MikeDesimone & Jeff Jenssen. $24.95
Part 1 is a listing of wineries and a bit of information on each, organized by region. It is not a comprehensive list, but rather a personal selection, though relatively complete.
Part 2 is "In Their Own Words", and probably the most interesting part of the book; though they ask each winemaker the identical set of somewhat quotidian questions. But some of the answers are rather insightful.
Part 3 is a selection of recipes from various WineCountry restaurants.

I've been sorta hopping around & skimming the book, mostly in Part 1 on wineries that I'm not too familiar with. Would you believe they have a number of wineries in there that I've followed from the very start??? I know...shocking!!!

I guess I'd give the book a sorta lukewarm recommendation. I've been learning some new things from it...which is all you can really ask for. I think CharlieOlken's/CGCW book is a bit more informative and comprehensive, though. But when you can't go into the office because of the Holiday shutdown and are desperate for something wine-related to read, this book is as good as you can do.
Tom

Susan got this wine book for me for Christmas (as she rolled her eyes and said "What do you need yet another wine book for??":
Wines of California: The Comprehensive Guide by MikeDesimone & Jeff Jenssen. $24.95
Part 1 is a listing of wineries and a bit of information on each, organized by region. It is not a comprehensive list, but rather a personal selection, though relatively complete.
Part 2 is "In Their Own Words", and probably the most interesting part of the book; though they ask each winemaker the identical set of somewhat quotidian questions. But some of the answers are rather insightful.
Part 3 is a selection of recipes from various WineCountry restaurants.

I've been sorta hopping around & skimming the book, mostly in Part 1 on wineries that I'm not too familiar with. Would you believe they have a number of wineries in there that I've followed from the very start??? I know...shocking!!!

I guess I'd give the book a sorta lukewarm recommendation. I've been learning some new things from it...which is all you can really ask for. I think CharlieOlken's/CGCW book is a bit more informative and comprehensive, though. But when you can't go into the office because of the Holiday shutdown and are desperate for something wine-related to read, this book is as good as you can do.
Tom

Pert near finished reading this book and having buyer's remorse now.
Part 1: The listing of the wineries is fairly extensive, by region, but a bit hit or miss. The section on each wnry is a bit too short to give them much justice. Sometimes they go into the history...but sometimes they ignore it. How can you cover VentanaVnyds w/ not one mention of DougMeador...one of the unsung heros of MontereyCnty?? They have a TN for 1-2 wines of each wnry which will date the book pretty rapidly. One common thread on many of the winery's write-up seems to be what a swell time they had palling around w/ the winemaker/winery owner over dinner. Got a bit irritating for me after awhile.
Part 2: They ask the exact same, rather vacuous, questions of each winemaker they interview. Like: "What famous person would you like to share dinner with??" The winemakers all seem to rise to the occasion and use the questions to plug how good their wines are to drink. I guess this is the best you can expect of two writers who were w/ WineEnthusiast...a stable of writers who are not usually the best & the brightest.

In summary, I would not recommend this book unless your one of those lame type of guys that must have every book on Calif...which fits me to a T.
Tom