The Wineslinger Chronicles

"A chronicle of Texas's emergence as a wine-producing region. Relates the stories of winegrowers, past and present, who have contributed to Texas wine culture"--Provided by publisher.

The link between culture and wine reaches back into the earliest history of humanity. The Routledge Handbook of Wine and Culture brings together a newly comprehensive, interdisciplinary overview of contemporary research and thinking on how wine fits into the cultural frameworks of production, intermediation and consumption. Bringing together many leading researchers engaged in studying these phenomena, it explores the different ways in which wine is constructed as a social artefact and how its representation and use acquire symbolic meaning. Wine can be analysed in different ways by varying disciplines involved in exploring wine and culture (anthropology, economics and business, geography, history and sociology, and as text). The Handbook uses these as lenses to consider how producers, intermediaries and consumers use and create cultural significance. Specifically, the work addresses the following: how wine relates to place, belief systems and accompanying rituals; how it may be used as a marker of the identity and mechanisms of civilising processes (often in conjunction with food and the arts); how its framing intersects with science and nature; the ideologies and power relations which arise around all these activities; and the relation of this to wine markets and public institutions. This is essential reading for researchers and students in education for the wine industry and in the humanities and social sciences engaged in understanding patterns of human ingenuity and interaction, such as sociology, anthropology, economics, health, geography, business, tourism, cultural studies, food studies and history.

The Texas Hill Country wineries have roots as old as any around. Texas grapes grow in soils made from ancient sea deposits, similar to the grape-growing regions of Europe. Texas wine culture arrived in the 1600s with Spanish missionaries who settled and planted vineyards in El Paso del Norte. The 1800s brought German and Italian immigrant farmers to Texas; they considered wine a staple of everyday life. In what is now America's No. 5 wine-producing state, the Texas Hill Country was named by Wine Enthusiast magazine to its 2014 list of best international wine destinations. It may surprise some, but not the wine aficionados who have visited the Texas Hill Country's 50 or more wineries, that wine-and-culinary tourism is currently the Texas Hill Country's fastest growing sector. This book is your guide to the Texas Hill Country winery experience. It is time to sip and savor Texas for yourself.

Sample the untold history of Texas’s wine industry in this book filled with fascinating stories and photos. Spanish colonists may have come to Texas to spread Christianity, but under visionary Father Fray Garcia, they stayed and raised grapes. Later immigrants brought their own burgundy tastes of home, creating a unique wine country. When a North American pest threatened European vines, it was Texan scientist T. V. Munson who helped save the industry overseas. When Prohibition loomed stateside, Frank Qualia's Val Verde Winery in Del Rio survived by selling communion wine—and it’s now the longest-operating bonded winery in the state. Today, tourists flock to Texas vineyards, and the state sells more wine every year. Join local experts Kathy and Neil Crain and sample the untold story of Texas's wine industry, a 350-year story that is still reaching its savory peak.

"Following two journeys, Kit Carson's 1864 military expedition from Fort Bascom to Adobe Walls and Alvin Lynn's journey to document what happened are told"--

"A naturalist's chronicle of the Carmen Mountains of northern Mexico; essays and photographs reflect the region's biodiversity, natural history, resources, and conservation"--

New Mexico is home to about 4,000 species of plants that inhabit the varied ecosystems found at the intersection of the Rocky Mountains, the Great Plains, and the Sonoran and Chihuahuan Deserts. Willa Finley and LaShara Nieland, authors of a previous field guide of Texas plants, Lone Star Wildflowers, traveled throughout New Mexico and photographed approximately 200 commonly encountered plants in all stages of growth from spring through fall. They also visited with Native Americans to learn the extensive practical ways in which they and their ancestors have used the flora. The research is presented in a colorful, well-organized format, using easily understood language appealing to wildflower enthusiasts of all levels of experience. Land of Enchantment Wildflowers features -Easy-to-use format with plants grouped according to flower color, indicated by color bars along the page edges. -456 full-color photos, all taken by the authors, including flowers, leaves and seedpods. -Origins of common and scientific names. -Historical and modern uses of plants for food, medicine, and other applications, along with archaeological findings. -Information about toxins and commercially valuable chemical compounds. -Interactions with wildlife and livestock, both positive and negative. -Landscaping uses, noting growth requirements, as well as deer resistance. -Over 100 butterfly and moth species identified, with description of their interaction with specific plants.

Delectably steeped in tradition, a living culinary heritage