California

wine

history will
exhaust reader

Wine Country: A History of
Napa Valley, The Early Years:
1838-1920
By William F. Heintz
333 pages
Pub. by Capra Press
AS BROTHER Timothy, Cellar
Master of Christian Brothers,
mentions in the foreword, this
book is “...an authoritative and
interpretive history of the ex-
citing grape and wine industry in
the Nana Valley’ *
Authoritative, yes;: interpretive,
most certainly; but this. is: really a
book only “for:ardent California
history buffs."and those _ wine
lovers who realy: want-to know

.. influential .

this defintely.

reading™ materi: less’ :you’re

ooning for’ the ure: cure forvin- ..

“ codfusing ~ in his
Pad Heintz does tend.to ramble
on with very ‘Yong:-paragraphs,
aot easily broken’ into ‘sections.
There are often. several themes
within’ “each “paragraph, . with
Heintz jumping from one subject
to another with very little in-
troduction,

it is an exhaustive history of
the Napa Valley, taking readers
from the sparsely populated,
isolated farm country of 1838 to
the prohibition-ravaged _ vine-
yards of 1920.

We learn that native Indians
probably did the actual planting
of the first vines in the first vine-
yards, and that Charles Krug
(whose successer’s jug wines of
today are a sad comment on his
historical significance to the
Napa Valley) is generally known
as the father of the wine industry
in the Napa Valley.

It wasn’t until the 1870s that
growing grapes for wines, rather

“not ‘bedside

than tor the table, became truly
popular, and wo was also about
that time that the Beringer
Brothers (another name casual
wine tasters might
came on the scene.

Chinese workers did most of
the land clearing, planting and
cultivating of the wines by the
late 1870s. They were nore reli-
able, worked cheaper, and
unlike their Caucasian counter-
parts, did nat abandon their tools
at the first news of a new gold or
silver strike.

The real wine boom did not
begin ‘in. eamest until the 1880s

“when European vineyards were

devastated: by the. deadly wine
louse phylloxera. More interest
fas shown in California wines,
andthe. number of wineries in-
creased from 49 in 1880 to 175
111886.

~ By 1890. phylloxera had spread
to California and - almost wiped
out the: Napa - Valley wine in-
dustry. Fortunately, for us wine

overs: Georges“de la Tour, the
‘originator of Beaulieu Vineyards,

nursed the - industry back - to
health with | phylloxera-resistant
vines, and the root stock, for to-
day's madern industry was es-
tablished.

Unfortunately, it was just get-
ting going when the prohibi-
tionists, who could not see the
value in good quality red and
white wines, stepped in and
temporarily halted the growth of
the wine industry in the Napa
Valley.

As you might have guessed,

Heintz is currently working on a
second volume of the history of
the Napa Valley. Perhaps in his
next book he wil) break up his
chapters and paragraphs a little
more and draw a few more
readers to what can be a very in-
teresting topic.
—By Allen Lynch, North Shore
Recycling Coordinator and direc-
tor of the American Wine Socie-
ty.

CHENA SWIM CLUB

A Quality Experience

Competitive Training on the North Shore
with Nationally Qualified Coaches
For Boys & Girls, ages 6 & over
Ron Andrews Pool
William Griffin Pool
North Van Rec Centre

For Information Attend Our Registration Booth at
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Friday, September 6, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Saturday, September 7, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
at Both locations

recognize):

Wednesday, September 4, 1991 - North Shore News - 39

Exoiic, refreshing recipes
transform baths into ritual

The Scented Bath
By Maribeth Riggs
Published by
Group

Hardcover $16.95

SOME PEOPLE take a bath to pet
clean, But oa bath, according to
author Maribeth Rips, can be a
sensual, celaxing experience,
soothing the body and soul.

Her baok The Scented Bath, A
Gitt of Luxury from Nature's
Garden, overilows — with recipes
exotic, refreshing, tropical and
fomantic to transform bathing
from a hygienic event to a watery
situal.

Trained in aromatherapy, Riggs
has a knowledge of how combin-
ed scents and essential oils can
create or alleviate certain states of
mind, and she even builds beyond
the olfactory elements by sug-
gesting music or foods to accom-
pany certain baths.

The book begins with a briet his-
tory af bathing and an explanation

the

Penguin

Suite 117, 1433 Lonsdale, North Van (

oF othe quahties of parucular
essences. Eucalyptus and
rosemary, foc instince. are light
essences that stumulate and uplitt,
whereas heavier essences such as
fasmine and sandahwood soothe
and sedate,

The book as bewutitully: typ set,
with large drop caps on a marble
background, each page with a
specially desizned marble border.
Ulustrations include somantic and
impressionist reproductions from
Gauguin, Boticelli and Renoir. it is
as much a pleasure to look at as to
read.

Some of the “recipes’’ include
the Full Moon Bath which consists
af a combination of sea salt, oils of
wintergreen, bayberry, ambergris
and sage and instructions ior a tall
white candle at bathside and ac-
companying flute music; Tae Bath
Named Desire which includes gils
of peppermint, magnolia, orange
biossom and = peppermint ice
cubes; and the Alpine Meadow
Honey Bath which opens by

leading the reader-bather through
a description of the Swiss Alps in
spring.

Bathing beauties will tuxurtate ia
the book's many possibilities for
pleasure and Rigg’s choice of po-
etry. mostly lyric and romantic,
such as) Byron, Swinburne,
Dickinson and Whitman.

My only disappointment and
frustration came when | tried to
fook for the ingredients in local
stores. The Body Shop and some
drugstores carry oils of eucalyptus
and peppermint and some com-
binations. Sea salt, borax, aloe
vera gel and star anise are easily
found at health food stores.

But the essences (required for
every recipe) are very hard to
come by. It might be necessary to
order from one of the addresses
listed in the back of the book, and
it might be wise to check prices
before giving the book as a gift.

— Barbara Black is a writer and
copy editor for the North Shore
News.

Visit our relaxing salon for your
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Offer ends
Sept. 30, 93 )

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PROFESSIONAL
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SALE ENDS SEPTEMBER 7/91

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