History in a Glass

When Gourmet magazine launched in the 1940s, American wineries were recovering from Prohibition and the scarcity of European wines due to war. This period, however, set the stage for today's widespread appreciation for wine. Ruth Reichl has curated sixty-five years of wine articles from Gourmet, presenting a lively collection of essays that chronicle America's discovery of wine's pleasures. These pieces, penned by those who witnessed and fostered the wine boom, offer a journey through great meals, walks, and drinks, from the reintroduction of European wines by James Beard and Frank Schoonmaker to reflections on Chianti by Gerald Asher and Ray Bradbury's ode to dandelion wine.