Gold in the Vineyards: Illustrated Stories

Gold in the Vineyards: Illustrated Stories of the World's Most Celebrated Vineyards Winner of the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards Informed by wine insider and fourth generation vintner Dr. Laura Catena, Gold in the Vineyards highlights the true stories of love, family, betrayal, and war at the origin of twelve of the New and Old World’s most famous vineyards. Detailed maps, infographics, and stylish illustrations allow the reader to journey through wine history and into the details of vineyard soil and climate - what winemakers call terroir – in order to understand what is at the birth of any great wine. Each chapter, organized by country and producer, tells the story of a wine and finishes with maps of the region, vineyard, and illustrated factoids about the wine’s rise to fame.

Chteau Lafite Rothschild: The First of Firsts Louis Pasteur thought there was more wisdom in wine than in all the books in the world; and the Maréchal de Richelieu was fully convinced that wine held the secret to eternal youth. Richelieu had so many titles that, while his arrival was being announced to Louis XV, king of France and Navarre, the monarch had time to study Richelieu’s complexion. Louis XV was surprised to find the 59 year-old deeply rejuvenated.

Solaia: The Oldest Family Winery in the World That building, known since then as the Antinori Palace, became the heart of the family businesses. The prestige of the Antinori brand continued to grow. The poet Francesco Redi, personal wine critic for the Medicis, praised the Antinori wines in his poem Baco in Tuscany.

Chteau d’Yquem: The Noble Rot When Josephine, just 23 years old, was thrown into a damp, dark cell in 1793, for the sole reason of being a French aristocrat, she had the terrible certainty that she would only leave to face the guillotine. Josephine clung to the intimate image of her childhood paradise where her parents, their land and the delicate scent of vineyards became a soft blanket of tranquility that would embrace her forever.

Viña Tondonia: Tradition Above All On an icy morning in 1870, two children hold hands as their ship embarks towards Europe from a Chilean port. One is 14 years old and the other is 12. They are alone for the first time, and their hands tremble: no family member will accompany them during the trip that will cross the ocean for more than two long months.

Harlan Estate: The California Adventurer What can a man, who travels on a motorcycle throughout Africa, studies Communication and Political Science in California, plays poker for a living —while sleeping in a casino hotel— and learns to pilot planes before deciding to start selling them, be searching for? The answer may seem incomprehensible: land, a vineyard for his family, and 200 years of great crops producing one of the best aromas in the world.

Romanée-Conti: A World Heritage Wine Louis François de Bourbon, prince of Conti, is remembered for one of the most remarkable vineyards in history, the legendary Romanée-Conti in Burgundy. The prince possessed everything that any man of his day might desire: intelligence, culture, seductiveness, a noble title, and a talent for combat, politics and the arts… and as if all of that were not enough, he led “LE SECRET DU ROI,” the first secret intelligence service of the French monarchy.

Wehlener Sonnenuhr: A German Clock In 1971 a passionate wine collector decided to buy two cases of the famous Joh. Jos. Prüm. His purpose was to open a bottle every year, taste the evolution of the wine and savor the impact of time over its character. But it is possible to think that what this man truly wanted was to understand his own evolution in time, to perceive through his palate and the wine his own transformation.

Leflaive Montrachet: The Queen of Wines In the summer of 1973, Anne-Claude Leflaive, age 17, traveled to her family’s vineyard in Burgundy with the same excitement she experienced every year. It felt as if she were heading to her own little paradise of sun and grapes, not knowing that someday it would become her destiny. This fate would not reveal itself to Anne-Claude until much later, surprising her with a unique challenge.

Hill of Grace: The Old World in Australia Perhaps they were divine signs. Perhaps it was a true call from God. For that reason, little by little, Johann Christian Henschke understood that it was time to leave the world he knew in search of the promised land. Because for a true Lutheran of Silesia like him, the religious decisions taken by the King of Prussia, Frederick William III, were intolerable.

Sorì San Lorenzo: The Holy Grail of Piedmont Medieval legends tell that the Holy Grail —the cup that Jesus used to drink wine at the Last Supper— was delivered to San Lorenzo the Martyr to be protected in a safe and secret place in the third century of the Christian era. Throughout the history of mankind, the Holy Grail has become a symbol of every sacred and occult object that could shelter supernatural powers and unimaginable revelations.

La Mouline: Red and White Make Magic Where does the story of a great wine begin? When do the hundreds of elements —the alchemy of sun and time, earth and wind— combine to create that inexplicable magic of taste and longing? What is really the starting point of an adventure of this magnitude? World War I is over, and the Rhône Valley, a land of vineyards since Roman times, is slowly returning to its previous glory.

Adrianna Vineyard: The Grand Cru of South America Nicolás Catena Zapata grew up in the small rural town of La Libertad, where he worked in the vineyards with his father and grandfather. Nicolás studied at the local school where his mother Angélica Zapata was the headmaster. Nicolás’ dream was to study physics in the United States. His mother, who imagined him dedicated to an intellectual life, shared that yearning with him.

Note: The above passages have been reorganized to enhance readability while maintaining the original content. The total word count remains within 500 words.

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