Local man’s book on Oregon wines wins publishers award

'Oregon: The Taste of Wine' takes top honors at the Ben Franklin Awards in New York City

The Times, Jul 2, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009

Janis Miglavs / For Times Newspapers

A historic farmhouse, built in 1883 near Forest Grove, is seen from a hillside of chardonnay vines at David Hill Vineyard and Winery.

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Sherwood resident Janis Miglavs’ book, “Oregon: The Taste of Wine,” won top honors at the Independent Book Publishers Association’s Ben Franklin Awards in New York City last month.

The gold medal was in the Regional category, competing against all books nationwide with a regional slant. This is Miglavs’ second vineyard/winery book.

“As a former National Geographic photographer, I felt very confident about the photography,” said Miglavs. “But I wanted the text to be just as compelling. To me, it seems the copy in most photography books is thin, lightweight. I wanted the copy for this Oregon book to be just as strong as the photography.

“I also wanted the copy to be very personal,” he said. “Rather than a book on Oregon wine, I wanted it to be about the people. My goal was to get very personal stories. I knew I was on the right track when about three-quarters of the way through my very first interview, Dick Ponzi looked at me and said, ‘I’m telling you things I’ve never told anyone before.’ During my interview with David Lett and his son Jason, they had father-son conversations they had never had before, right on my digital recorder.”

Stories told in their own, colorful words, “Oregon: The Taste of Wine” is about the extraordinary group of individuals who followed their hearts to create something that is world-class – Oregon wine. It’s about their individual and collective energy, their values, their passion, their vision and their humanness and is accompanied by storytelling photographs of the region and its vineyards and wineries.

The reviewers are buzzing about the book.

“It’s the stories of the people, punctuated with Jánis’ photography, that makes ‘Oregon: The Taste of Wine’ a great read,” said Tom Hubbard of The Portland Metro Photographic News.

“Miglavs captured the spirit of Oregon viticulture and winemaking in this volume, which should be added to any serious wine lover’s collection of books,” said Andy Perdue, Wine Press Northwest.

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