A Perfect Score: The Art, Soul, and Business of a 21st-Century Winery

This ended up being a surprisingly good read although it didn't start out that way. I have a growing interest in wines, winemaking and the winery business and the early tone of this book was simply pretentious from my point of view. It came across as "the rich and the famous deign to share their winery and lavish lifestyle with you peasants" at first and this was a hard flavor to get past. However, in reading it from front to back I picked up a lot of interesting ideas related to what it actually took them to achieve the perfect score on their wine. This was gratifying and is what leads to the 4-star rating as I do feel I gained some good insights for my own pursuits and reviews. I just wish it had focused more on the wine and wine experiences and less on the authors and their expensive lifestyle. "The nose of the book was not very inviting with some harsh undertones, but once on the palate, it had a good taste with good mouthfeel and a long lasting finish. It doesn't rate a perfect score, but it was, nevertheless, a good read."

A brisk, easy to read, fun, and hard to put down account about how the Halls got into and built a successful wine business, told both by Craig and Kathryn Hall, the latter a former ambassador to Austria. While they provide lots of interesting detail about growing grapes and creating their two wineries, there are few details about the many tens of millions of dollars it must have cost. Many details are skimmed over, so it's not an in depth story as much of a conversational 200 page story that touches the main points of their fascinating journey. Hall's Napa Cab is one of my favorite value-priced Cabs, which attracted me to the book. If you're interested in a look behind the scenes of building a wine business, it's a good read.

Very Interesting story of a winery that I have visited two times and shipped some of their wines home. The Halls are at the forefront of technology in making the best wine that Napa has to offer. Kathryn Hall grew up in Mendocino County on a vineyard and was an Ambassador to Austria in the Clinton administration and loves art. The book is easy reading and visiting the winery tasting room several years apart makes it very obviouse that she is consumed by art. Parker gave their 2010 Cabernet a perfect score for a year that was a very bad vintage year for most all other wineries. The Halls hit a home run that boosted their business. .

Read the book from cover to cover in less than 3 hours. It was too hard to put down. The book is fantastic. It takes the reader through the journey, giving the reader a real peek into the world of wine making and Napa, making you fall in love with the brand - it's authenticity and passion. The story is gripping - almost like a fiction novel. You want to know what happens next to the characters, do they succeed. A very enjoyable read.I personally liked the switching off authors. It gives you the different perspectives. And gives you a glimpse into the very different, yet perfectly well suited personalities of the authors.A must read!

Great read, sure a little bumpy writing style, but these folks are wine makers, not writers. Six of us went to Napa last New Years weekend and our concierge set up Hall. Never new it existed and now I have a wine fridge dedicated to this brand! A very fun and lighthearted read, great personal stories and I learned quite a bit about the difficult process of wine making. Highly recommend this book to anyone one enjoys a nice glass of wine. I pre ordered the book and ten received an autographed copy with my club order. What a nice touch from a very unique vintner. And yes! We loved the chandelier and all of the other art.

An interesting book with good information about the life of a winery owner and producer. The authors of the book however need to dial their ego back a bit. The constant and unnecessary name dropping of all the governors, senators and heads of state that they know and mingle with added nothing to the content, except to say that the authors are quite smitten with themselves.

If you know anything about wine and Napa Valley, you won't learn anything from this book. It is full of humblebrag and name dropping, and reads like something written as a family memoir. The title indicates the shallowness of the thinking, but also the authors' goals. Unfortunately their saga may be representative of many newcomers to the ultra luxury wine business.Here's an excerpt:"Not much for makeup, Kathryn told herself as she put on eyeliner, shadow, mascara, and blush in anticipation of the early tank walk. Definitely no lipstick or gloss. We’ll be sharing wine glasses in 30 minutes and lipstick stains on the communal glass are not cool.She threw on her jeans and pulled on the dark blue rubber Chanel boots she adores—practical but with a little flair from the two little rubber flowers on each side. Maybe someday when I grow up I can wear regular shoes on a tank walk, but not yet, she thought. I still can’t spit well and in line."

I have worked at a winery in Oregon for 5 years and can really appreciate much of what is written here. Wineries are challenging places and there is so much to learn and do that it can be overwhelming and often is . Good look at starting a wine business from scratch. Also know that in most cases this requires deep pockets.