More than just autobiographical, the sidebar approach used in writing this book makes the whole process - from soil care to harvesting - fascinating even for the non-farmer.

The book is laid out by seasons, starting with the Fall. Each chapter has lovely quotes about wine to start you off right, and even the chapter titles are intriguing: "A Cluster off the Old Vine," "Plant Right don't let the Bad Bugs Bite," "When Life gives you Sour Grapes make Sweet Wine," and "Somewhere over the Vineyard," are just a few of the delights awaiting the reader. If you are only a wine drinker and not a viticulturist, you will find the glossary at the back very helpful but not at all necessary for the enjoyment of the book.

Paula's struggles to be organically correct, yet to keep pests like deer from nibbling on her cash crop, are wryly endearing, giving the reader both a good laugh and a good look at Paula's ten years of attempts to be fair to all who live on her property. The subtitle of the book, "Life Lessons," is truly how she embraces her farming, her family and the back-to-the-land life she is striving for. She is smart enough to know that she doesn't know enough and humble enough to take on going back for a college education in viticulture. Step by step, sharing the process with the reading audience, she opens herself to the love of the land, to understanding tractors, and to divining the purpose and the beauty of the grape. You come away from the reading with a renewed appreciation of those who grow the grapes, those who harvest them, and those who make them into the elixir of the gods. So grab your favorite bottle of wine (California of course!) and settle in to a cool fall evening of enjoyment with tales of the vineyard.