Tangled Vines by Frances Dinkelspiel

I have to be honest, I would not have bought this book, but it was a Christmas gift and it opened my eyes to the seedy side of wine and more.
The topic of this book is the 2005 fire that occurred at Wines Central in Vallejo, California. The author, Frances Dinkelspiel has a personal connection with the fire because Wines Central was storing two wines that her ancestor, great-great grandfather, Isaias Hellman had made in 1875. It is a thoroughly researched book, with an even handed accounting of the person who set the Wines Central storage facility on fire, Mark Anderson, as well as the background of Rancho Cucamanga where the wine was made and how the two eventually intersected. Throughout the history of Rancho Cucamanga, there were occasions where blood was shed and fortunes were lost and then made. This is the story of early California wine making, the formation of the California Wine Association interleaved with the stories of current highly respected California wineries including Saintsbury, Viader, and Sean Thackery's Orion Rossi Vineyard. It is worthwhile reading through this history to arrive at the end. In spite of the travails that her book relates, Frances Dinkelspiel's recounting of the evening spent with Fred Dame tasting her ancestor's 1875 Port is why wine is so special. It's a good and fast read and filled in a bit of history that I was totally ignorant about.