These days I find it harder and harder to read a book. It’s just time and I don’t know where it goes. When Evan Dawson’s book “Summer in a Glass” came out, I pre-ordered it and hoped I could find the time to sit and read it. Evan is a fellow wine blogger as Managing Editor at the New York Cork Report and morning news anchor for WHAM TV in Rochester. I know Evan, and I know and have met many people in this book. “Summer in a Glass” brings out the heart and soul of a winery, winemaker and vineyard owner, their triumphs and tribulations both personal and business.
When you walk into a winery, you taste the wine, listen to the story, but very rarely do you really know how that winery got to where it is today. You don’t know what’s behind, what’s in the glass. Evan brings that story to you. Each story unique just like each winery. This book isn’t just a story, it’s a personal account of Evan’s passion, research and the friendships that blossomed with many of the people in the book. It allows you to look at the wineries and people that are moving the Finger Lakes wines forward and taking it to the next level.
At the end of the book Evan speaks about when Anthony Road won the Governor’s Cup for the 2008 Semi-Dry Riesling. I was there. I was working the Classic. I was in the room, clearing wine glasses from the table when the winner was announced. Everyone stopped what they were doing and began clapping. John and Ann Martini came in from the work room (where we wash & dry glasses, and pour the wine) and a 5 minute standing ovation was given. (John and Ann volunteer at the Classic) I had no idea how important that was at the time.
