For California wine enthusiasts and industry professionals alike, the latest addition too the Classic Wine Libary, The Wines of California by Elaine Chukan Brown, promises a deep dive into the state’s vinicultural landscape. But does this new volume deliver both as a comprehensive guide and a broader appraisal of the challenges facing California wine today? Read on for our in-depth review exploring Brown’s insightful and sometimes unconventional approach to california’s past, present, and future in wine.
The books that form the Classic Wine Library have long been staples for wine lovers and students. The originals were iconic, written by legendary names – the likes of John Livingstone-Learmonth, Anthony Hanson MW and Rosemary George MW. The series was revived in 2013, and since 2023 it has come under the umbrella of Académie du Vin Library. The latest addition to the line-up is The Wines of California (April 2025, £35), written by Elaine Chukan Brown.
Brown tackles the topic in both a straightforward and slightly unconventional manner. The book is broken into three major sections: ‘How we got here’, ‘Where we grow’ and ‘What we’re facing’. Essentially looking at the state’s past, present and future, the use of the first person is important, with Brown’s ties to the industry and issues running through what feels like a very personal work.
The history (‘How we got here’) is fascinating reading, taking the reader from the arrival of the first vines through to US President Trump’s most recent election and the less-discussed roles of indigenous peoples and immigrants. The future (‘What we’re facing’) looks at the challenges that face California’s wine today, a dive into the many social, climatic and economic issues at play. Again, it’s engrossing – intelligent and nuanced, finely crafted – but perhaps more targeted at industry professionals than wine drinkers. In places, both of these sections seem to lose their focus on either California specifically or wine more generally.
The core 200 pages of the 480-page work are a guide to the regions of California: the growing environment, the wine styles and the key producers. While the overall context is important, if you’re picking up a book about the wines of California, this is what you’re looking for – and arguably might want more of. Although there’s a box-out on the most planted grape varieties in California, for example, more detail would be helpful – as well as more information on those, such as Valdiguié, Petite Sirah or Zinfandel, that are referenced in the context of the industry’s development but then not more directly on their own.
Brown’s writing is beautiful – concisely prosaic – and their expertise shines through, but it feels almost like the book is battling between its purposes: one as a functional guide that matches the title, and a second as a broader, more far-reaching and ambitious appraisal of the state of the industry today. There’s a place for both, but I’m not convinced the Classic Wine Library is it – and the result here is something that sits slightly awkwardly between the two.
Lend them your ear…
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Importer Doug Wregg (of Les Caves de Pyrene), writer Dr Jamie Goode and wine consultant Emily Harman have launched a new podcast, Just Another Wine Podcast. All three are natural-leaning in their vinous tastes, so expect conversations to be skewed accordingly. At the time of writing, only the first episode has been released, considering the fine line between faults and flaws, and how imperfection can enhance wine – a subject that’s more relevant than ever.
