The Great Wines of America, by Paul Lukacs

Publish or perish is the watchword of American academia, but at least Paul Lukacs, "chair of the English Department at Loyola College in Maryland", has the right priorities. Ranging from a "classy, elegant bubbly" produced in the slightly unlikely terroir of Michigan to more predictable inclusions from Sonoma and Napa Valleys, his survey of 40 top US vintners is as intelligent as it is enthusiastic. He even includes French winemakers like Louis Roederer, now operating in California's Anderson Valley, where "marijuana is the leading cash crop."