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R.L.Balzer Cal Poly Pomona
  Enough can't be said about all the good he has done in building the image of California wine. In the early days, there was no awareness of California wines and their potential to stand alongside the world’s finest. Bob spread the word. - Robert Mondavi

Writings

Robert Balzer

Many consider Robert Lawrence Balzer to be this country’s first serious wine journalist. He was also a United Press International (UPI) photographer. Balzer wrote his first wine column for the Beverly Hills Citizen newspaper in 1937, when he was just 25. Through the years, Balzer also contributed to Sunset magazine, Travel/Holiday, Flightime, Wine Enthusiast and Wine Spectator, as well as his own newsletter, Robert Lawrence Balzer’s Private Guide to Food & Wine.

For 32 years, Robert Lawrence Balzer served as the wine editor at the Los Angeles Times. He has also written or contributed to over a dozen books, including California’s Best Wines (1948), Chefs of the West Cook Book (1951), Beyond Conflict (1963), The Pleasures of Wine (1964), Adventures in Wine: Legends, History, Recipes (1969), This Uncommon Heritage: The Paul Masson Story (1970), Discovering Italian Wines (1971), Balzer’s Book of Wines and Spirits (1973), Wines of California (1978), and The Los Angeles Times Book of California Wines (1984). His forthcoming autobiography will be published under the title Face the Tiger.