159 - Elaine Chukan Brown, The Wines of California

Today, we have Elaine Chukan Brown on the show. Brown is a writer, speaker, and global wine educator. Brown is the Napa Valley specialist for Wine Enthusiast and previously served as the Executive Editor US for JancisRobinson.com, a columnist for Decanter magazine, and a contributing writer to Wine & Spirits magazine. They contributed to both the fourth and fifth editions of the Oxford Companion to Wine, the eighth edition of the World Atlas of Wine, and the compendiums On Burgundy and On California from Académie du Vin Library. Indigenous (Inupiaq and Unangan-Sugpiaq) from what is now Alaska, Brown has dedicated their career to the intersection of sustainability, climate action, and reducing gatekeeping in the wine industry. They co-founded the Diversity in Wine Leadership Forum and have advised diversity initiatives in multiple countries. Brown serves as a judge for the Texsom Awards, head judge for the 67 Pall Mall Communicator Awards, and is a board member of the Wine Writer Symposium.

Their new book is The Wines of California. Here’s a description of the book and click here to buy it: 

A concise, complete, smartly delivered and cohesive book for serious readers and students of wine. Focusing on the world’s fourth largest producer of wine – California – the book takes readers on a journey through the Golden State’s wines, paying due attention to famous wine destinations such as Sonoma and Napa as well as introducing readers to exciting lesser-known regions to explore. The book is divided into three major sections. The first looks at California wine in the context of the history of the state as a whole. It addresses key issues in California wine growing such as Indigenous Peoples and land ownership, immigration and labour issues, the back-to-the land movement, environmental protest and innovations in sustainability. The second section takes each major region in turn and looks into its history, growing conditions and varieties, as well as discussing the most significant and interesting producers. A final section looks at current themes in Californian wine and discusses the future of the industry across the state.