Book Review: Impressions of Wine Country

Two years ago, I featured Richard Sheppard's book titled The Artist on the Road: Impressions of Greece which is a travelogue sketchbook.

Impressions of Wine Country is sort of like a travelogue as well, and this time Sheppard recounts his experiences of traveling in the Northern California through the seasons to visit different wineries.

On some occasions, he drives, on others, he would cycle. There are many interesting wineries featured and there's also an illustrated map showing where they are in case you want to go on this wine tasting trip as well.

I really enjoyed reading the book. It reminded me of the movie Sideways which is about two guys who went on a wine tasting trip. I just like the idea of spending a nice day off relaxing, checking out the countryside, enjoying good wine. By the way, I don't drink wine unless it's a special occasion. Perhaps that's why I feel that there's a romantic notion when it comes to having wine.

In this book, Sheppard talks about the different wineries he visited, the people, winemakers he talked to, he also goes to places where the wine is actually made, or where the grapes are plucked. There's also information on how the vineyards are managed, insects that are harmful to vineyards, how grapes are grown, the different type of food that goes well with wine, and lots of other interesting details.

It's not easy to write a book with so much information and also have to come up with over 170 beautiful watercolour sketches to go with the text. I can't even imagine the amount of work required. But I know that it must have been enjoyable.

It's a wonderful book.

If you like wine and art, I recommend you check out The Grapes of Ralph as well.

Impressions of Wine Country is available at Amazon (US | CA | UK | DE | FR | IT | ES | JP | CN)

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