Grape's Progress

Frankly, I'd rather drink wine than read about it. And so, I suspect, would Mr. Misch. This tome is about the wines produced in California, for the most part, despite the allembracing promise of the title. He does mention, briefly, the wines of Argentina, where they produce twice as much wine annually as we do (550 million gallons a year), and drink nearly 15 times as much per capita (29 gallons vs. less than two). And he quite properly kisses off Florida, which is talking about watermelon wine. The book tells you all you need to know about vineyards, grapes, the precious language, and the cost and tastes of wines. Clearly, Misch has spent a good part of his life drinking the stuff, and hobnobbing with winemakers. He's very kind and polite to them, their wives, and their products. He's seldom nasty - although he has little to say that is kind about Cold Duck.

Misch has made a career of writing about food and drink. He has a syndicated column called "Eat, Drink and Be Merry," distributed by United Features, and he's written earlier "quick guides" to cheese, spirits, the world's most famous recipes, and to wine in general. His prose is folksy, easy-to-read, informal, and sometimes a bit arch. He cuts through the mystique and absurdities of the wine snobs. He proposes an end to the "isn't this as good as that" school of tasting and testing: "A cabernet sauvignon grown in St. Helena is not exactly the same as one from the Medoc.... Both places produce good grapes. Both produce good wines. They needn't be the same."

Unfortunately, he indulges in comments like this about United Vintners (Italian-Swiss Colony): "This huge combine produces more different kinds of wine than you can shake a stick at - if shaking sticks is your cup of wine."

Well, nobody's perfect.

Misch has written a readable, informative, and reasonably exhaustive guide to the best wines of the Americas. He provides basic information about wine-making in the Americas and the history of the grape. He also tells you what the wines cost, how they taste, and who produces what.

QUICK GUIDE TO THE WINESOF ALL THE AMERICASBy Robert J. Misch '25Doubleday, 1977. 164 pp. $4.95

Mel Wax is editor-producer of "Newsroom" onSan Francisco's public television stationKQED.