Napa author, sommelier Kelli White to join Gemma owners at December 14 wine dinner

owners Allison Yoder and Stephen Rogers send word that they will be welcoming an old friend from Napa Valley’s Press restaurant (where Yoder and Rogers formerly served as GM/somm and chef, respectively) when author and sommelier Kelli White rolls into Gemma on Monday, December 14, for dinner and the launch of her book, Napa Valley Then & Now.

White will select the Napa wines to be paired at the six-course dinner. The $250 dinner will include a signed copy of Kelli White’s new 1,300 page book.

Here’s what you need to know about “About Napa Valley, Then & Now”

Napa Valley, Then & Now is an in-depth look at the history, the land, the wineries, and the wines of Napa Valley, with a special emphasis on tasting notes of older vintages.

Written by sommelier Kelli Audrey White, this book serves as a much-needed definitive guide to one of the world’s most celebrated wine regions. Exhaustively researched and thoughtfully organized, Napa Valley, Then & Now chronicles the rise of Napa’s wine industry from its earliest days to its current glory, examining its triumphs and failures along the way. Critically, it also checks in on the current state of many of Napa’s historic wines and vintages, just as interest in this heretofore, marginalized category of wine is starting to grow.

For too long, California wines were considered unworthy of great age. White seeks to dispel that notion, and is uniquely qualified to do so, having spent the last several years tasting through the cellars of countless vintners and private collectors in Napa Valley and beyond. In these pages, she guides the consumer through her findings, not only highlighting what to pursue and what to avoid, but providing context for each wine so that it might be understood as part of a larger historical narrative. In short, this is a singular, exceptional work that is a great addition to the annals of wine scholarship.

Gemma, 2323 N. Henderson Ave., Dallas; 214-370-9426 or www.gemmadallas.com