A journey through Ventura County history. A Mexican land grant awarded in 1836, Rancho Guadalasca lay at the western end of the Santa Monica Mountains along the eastern Oxnard Plain. Grantee Ysabel Yorba, an illiterate widow who successfully managed the ranch for over 35 years, is just one of many fascinating people who once lived there. Indigenous Chumash, Californio ranchers, Anglo-American farmers, Japanese fishermen, and Basque sheepherders all left their marks on the land, along with local institutions like Camarillo State Hospital and CSU Channel Islands. Join archaeologist and anthropology professor Colleen M. Delaney as she traces the 5,000 years of community and lifeways that shaped Ventura County.
A year in the life of the vineyards and wines of the USA Slow Wine Guide USA is a new and revolutionary guide to the wines of California, Oregon, New York, and Washington. Thanks to the help of a handful of expert contributors, we've selected the best wineries from each state and reviewed their most outstanding bottles. The idea behind Slow Wine is simple: it acknowledges the unique stories of people and vineyards, of grape varieties and landscapes, and of their wines. The awareness that wine is more than just liquid in a glass helps wine lovers make better, more conscious choices and enhances the very enjoyment of this beverage. Since its beginnings in Italy twelve years ago, Slow Wine has combined its tasting sessions with equally important moments of exchange and debate with producers. The direct contact with winegrowers and winemakers allows for a genuine, authentic, and always up-to-date report on what's happening in America's vineyards and cellars. Each winery receives a review divided in three sections: the first one is dedicated to the people who live and work at the winery, the second to the vineyards and the way they're farmed, and the third to the finest wines currently available on the market. The very best wines are awarded the Top Wine accolade. Among these we have the Slow Wines--which beyond their outstanding sensory quality are of particular interest for their sense of place, environmental sustainability or historical value--and the Everyday Wines, representing excellent value at prices within $30. The most interesting wineries on the other hand are awarded the Snail, for the way they interpret Slow Food values (sensory perceptions, territory, environment, identity) while offering good value for money; the Bottle, to wineries whose wines are of outstanding sensory quality throughout the range; the Coin to those estates offering excellent value for money.
"The Chumash World at European Contact is a major achievement that will be required reading and a fundamental reference in a variety of disciplines for years to come."—Thomas C. Blackburn, editor of December's Child: A Book of Chumash Oral Narratives "An extremely valuable synthesis of the historical, ethnographic, and archaeological record of one of the most remarkable populations of Native Californians."—Glenn J. Farris, Senior Archaeologist, California State Parks Department
