Joy Sterling takes us through the vineyards and gardens of California's Iron Horse Vineyards, into her kitchen and to her table. Filled with charming anecdotes, Vintage Feasting is a year's worth of news from the grapevine, as well as imaginative menus and recipes from a vintner reveling in her life as wine lover, epicure, philosopher, and hostess.In settings suffused with the scents of Giverny-like gardens, Joy shows how well-planned menus and wines can create an extraordinary range of atmospheres. She shares secrets of tasting and cooking with wine, unveils the mysteries of gout de terroir (literally, taste of the soil, which spurred one French vineyard owner in Napa to rapturous excess), emphasizes the importance of experimenting with menus and vintages, and explains why certain pairings of food and wine endure.Whether it's savoring the intense aromas of crushed violets in a young Cabernet Sauvignon; recalling a culinary adventure at Paul Bocuse's restaurant; drinking in the Provence scents of zinnias and lavenders; or concocting a Halloween dinner of turban squash drenched with butter and salt and served with a loaf of sweet batard bread and 1989 Vrais Amis, Vintage Feasting is a treasure of fascinating lore, succulent menus, memorable wines - and a zest for enjoying life that leaves us refreshed, delighted, and inspired anew. Read Less