I probably drink wines from Jura as often as wines from any region, but finding information about producers can be frustrating. This project by Wink Lorch will hopefully fill the gap. I have always enjoyed her articles and blogs.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/winklorch/jura-wine-the-book/
I follow her on Twitter and she’s been talking a good bit about the book project. I look forward to reading. She seems to know her stuff in the Jura.
bump - cool project, one that several Berserkers have backed already. Let’s get this over the hump.
I kicked in the day she started the campaign. It would be really nice to have a good book on the Jura.
I am actually considering this.
Hello to all and thanks so much for your support. Sorry, I was unable to post before because I accidentally registered as under 21!! But I am now registered with a different email address.
Thanks to great worldwide support, the KS project for the book is now at 65% funded with just over 2 weeks to go. All help sharing the project info would be really appreciated. Today I added a Reward of 5 books for £95 (about US$145) especially for wine shops, clubs etc. who might want more than a personal copy. I also wrote more about the bigger rewards (guided tastings or a personal guided tour in the region) on the latest project update.
Most of interest to you may well be what’s going to be in the book. I plan to include profiles of at least 100 producers introducing readers to how they work, who they are and what wines they offer, with a note of my preferred styles, but avoiding tasting notes. There will be substantial background info also on the history, geography, grapes and wine styles of course. And I have Steve de Long designing not only the book, but creating some detailed maps. About 20% of the book will be devoted to local cheeses and other food, as well as some well-researched travel tips for those planning a visit.
Thanks again and I shall try to look into the forum now and again to respond to questions on Jura and Savoie (my other major speciality).
Great to see you here, Wink. As you can see, there are a number of Jura enthusiasts here:
I look forward to your contributions here on this board, and, of course, your book.
I will pledge. Hope it works out!
Just pledged. Seems like a worthwhile venture. Just had a Jura wine this evening at Le Verre Volé–a good selection of natural wines in Paris.
I got to know Wink at a conference in Italy two years ago. She’s whip-smart, funny as hell, kind, and very savvy. In a more just world, a publisher would jump on this. But I suspect she’ll show that you can do this without a big house backing it.
Pledged.
I need to learn more about the Epoisses of the wine world 
What is up with big-house publishing that a wine book like this doesn’t get traditional support?
Unfortunately, the publishing industry is moving away from these types of books. For example, I believe Mitchell Beazley has dropped the Classic Wine Library series. The annual Wine Report by Tom Stevenson which featured great content by Wink Lorch and other top wine experts was dropped by DK after 2009 and never picked up.
Regional wine guides?
$1000 more to go. I would have thought all the Jura wineries would be on it like a flash to promote their region.
Thanks for ongoing support from this wonderful forum and for your kind comments Evan Dawson.
A few comments:
Yes, it’s going well even if it’s a huge amount of work in keeping on top of spreading the word through various media. My network of colleagues/friends has been wonderfully supportive and that includes you all.
Regarding why publishers did not take this up:
I approached very few in fact. But having worked with UK wine book publishers I knew full well that it wouldn’t happen there - Jura wines are hardly recognized in the UK (though that is beginning to change and the producers have a first trade tasting there in May) and sales of most wine books struggle except for those that are very popular in style (cheap wines, basic/simple approach or known annual guides) or are by top-known names.
In the USA I had some possible interest, but the bottom line is that publishers are too scared to take on Jura on its own, they want to do Savoie too and I decided I absolutely did not want to cover these two regions together in one book for many different reasons, including that they have very little in common and that it gives me a 2nd book to write later! But also, I am increasingly disappointed by the way traditional publishers market their authors’ books - many authors are given very little support and the promotion is pretty dire or lacking. I thought I could do this better on my own, with the large networks I’ve built up worldwide through social media partly and through being ‘around’ for a long time.
It’s very hard to explain this radical new-age project (!) to the French and up to now I have not asked them directly to contribute. I did ask a few to forward the info onto their importers worldwide and know that at least 2 including Stéphane Tissot have done this. I do know that many will be prepared to buy a few books after it is published - Stéphane has been particularly supportive.
Inspired by your comment and by all the amazing blog posts, interviews etc that have appeared in the past few days mentioning my project and thus promoting Jura, I have just written to the ‘powers that be’ in Jura, who I know well, what they think about encouraging the vignerons to contribute, especially to support the new reward that I added last week of 5 books for £95.
Thanks again. A retrospective Jura toast to you all with a Jura wine we enjoyed over the weekend, a coppery-coloured oranges-in-caramel smelling, sweet, but not luscious Côtes du Jura Vin de Paille 2008 from Domaine Badoz.
Chambers Street is offering a Dinner on Tuesday June 11th at Le Barricou with Wink Lorch. As of this evening, there is one spot left…you can go the Chambers Street Wine shop for more information. I meant to post this last night (when there were 7 spots left out of a total of 30 but couldn’t seem to log in). Hope to see some of you there.
Just to close the loop, Wink Lorch’s Kickstarter effort was quite successful and will allow her to do a somewhat more ambitious book than the minimum funding would have permitted. She was quite pleased to learn about Wine Berserkers and appreciated the interest and support from the ever erudite WB community.
Wow. I clicked on that link and the paperback is “from $98”! I have a paperback. Happy to sell it for less. The Kindle version seems like a great deal!