It’s Napa versus Sonoma, and the antics are rampant!

When acclaimed Vanity Fair journalist Alan Deutschman came to the California wine country as the lucky house guest of very rich friends, he was surprised to find a civil war being fought between Napa Valley, which epitomized prestige and wealthy excess, and neighboring Sonoma Valley, a ragtag bohemian enclave so stubbornly backward that rambunctious chickens wandered freely through town. In A Tale of Two Valleys, Deutschman wittily captures these stranger-than-fiction locales and uncorks the hilarious absurdities of life among the wine world’s glitterati. The cast of characters brims with eccentrics, egomaniacs, and a mysterious man in black who crashed the elegant Napa Valley Wine Auction before proceeding to pay a half-million dollars for a single bottle. What develops is nothing less than the struggle for the soul of one of America’s last bits of paradise.

A San Francisco Chronicle bestseller

Customer Review: Feels like a run-on magazine article

Echoing what others have written, this is an extremely light account of the Sonoma and Napa wine regions. Unclear plot line (is there one?) and very little depth on any of the subjects that could have made it interesting (how about at least letting us know how the Screaming Eagle tasted?). If you are looking for a short, light hearted read with some reasonably interesting tidbits on Sonoma and Napa, this is an ok read. If you're looking for an ejoyable read with depth and history, this isn't it - your time would be much better spent reading House of Mondavi.

Customer Review: Sour Grapes

Chock full of interesting characters and insightful observations, A Tale of Two Valleys is an entertaining read that ultimately disappoints for lack of a plot or central character. Deutschman stumbled on the subject matter to produce a West Coast version of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, but he seems to lack the creative instincts. He tells us too much and too little about himself, as if he can't decide how much of a presence he should have in his story. That said, his tidbits on the French Laundry ("an excerise in literary and aesthetic showmanship"), the Russian River Valley ("summer camp for the Castro District"), Lake Tahoe's Incline Village as a tax haven ("Incline Village is to Californians what Monaco is to Europeans") and where to hang out if you want to meet Sonoma's locals (the Irish pub and the Farmer's Market) are some of the many little gems that make the book worthwhile. Deutschman has a good eye and a good ear. I hope the next time he asks himself WWTWD - What Would Tom Wolfe Do? - and does it.

Click For More Details