An excerpt from the new book by Frances Dinkelspiel who will be appearing at Litquake on Oct. 11, Mrs. Dalloway’s Books on Oct. 14, the Uncharted: Berkeley Festival of Ideas on Oct. 17 and throughout California in the coming month. Full list of events here.

On October 12, 2005, a massive fire broke out in the Wines Central wine warehouse in Vallejo, California. Within hours, the flames had destroyed 4.5 million bottles of California’s finest wine worth more than $250 million, making it the largest destruction of wine in history. Continue reading →