“Remarkable . . . A beautiful book, full of insights . . . [It] captures aspects and moments of vineyard life I have not even been aware of in half a century among the vines.”
—Hugh Johnson, writing in the book’s foreword
In their gorgeous new book A YEAR IN THE VINEYARD (Cultureshock; on-sale June 4, 2024; fully illustrated), award-winning wine writer Sophie Menin and environmental artist Bob Chaplin document the ongoing evolution of viticulture at this pivotal moment in its history, as climate change reshapes centuries of tradition. This is an insider’s look like no other into some of the most esteemed vineyards around the globe, spanning Italy’s Piedmont region, France’s Côte de Beaune, California’s Napa Valley, and the biodynamic vineyards of Western Australia.
With over 180 stunning photographs, A YEAR IN THE VINEYARD offers a glimpse into the yearlong cycle of the vine—from winter pruning to vine leaves capturing the energy of the late autumn sun. The authors’ narrative is spun through vignettes about activities that honor the seasonal rhythms and rituals of winemaking, resulting in resonant meditations on how fine wines are achieved through nature, not through the triumph over elements.
Menin and Chaplin also reveal how wine growers are on the front line of the climate crisis, posing questions and potential remedies in response to the earth’s changing ecology. Be it the increased frequency of hail that damages crops, or planting redwoods to protect vital water sources during drought, Menin and Chaplin offer the dynamic work currently underway in vineyards as a lens for observing efforts to find balance with nature in our rapidly changing world.
A YEAR IN THE VINEYARD is a beautiful paean to winemakers—both their venerable customs and nimble adaptability—and the environments that shapes their craft. As celebrated wine writer Hugh Johnson writes in the book’s foreword, “Bob Chaplin and Sophie Menin have brought the sensitivities of gardeners to the growing of grapes and the making of wine.”
ABOUT THE AUTHORS:
Sophie Menin is an award-winning cultural journalist and author whose work has appeared in The New York Times, Barron’s, Departures, Penta, Wine Spectator, Edible Communities, Saveur, Tricycle, Punch, B The Change Magazine, and Opera News. She earned an MA in Cultural Reporting and Criticism from the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at New York University and a professional degree in the Culinary Arts from the Institute of Culinary Education. Her wine writing focuses on the myriad ways that wine connects us with our sense and the rhythms of the natural world. It can be found in her online journal. Sophie lives in New York with her husband and daughter.
Bob Chaplin is an artist, landscape designer and wine writer working with mixed media, installation, and books. His art work and limited-edition books are in many collections, including the Museum of Modern Art Library, New York Public Library and Whitney Museum of American Art Library, New York; Art Institute of Chicago; Yale Center for British Art, New Haven; The Getty Research Institute Library, Los Angeles; the Arts Council of Great Britain, The British Council, The Tate Gallery and Victoria & Albert Museum, London; Museum of Contemporary Art, Skopje, North Macedonia; The Stedelijk Museum, the Netherlands; and the National Museum, Krakow, Poland. He has written about libations for the Hartford Courant, Gastronomica, Hartford Magazine, and New England Wine Gazette.