The House of Mondavi: The Rise and Fall of an American Wine Dynasty (edit title)

Shelfari edited the description of The House of Mondavi: The Rise and Fall of an American Wine Dynasty Saturday, August 1 2009.

• An epic, scandal-plagued story of the immigrant family that built—and then spectacularly lost—a global wine empire Set in California’s lush Napa Valley and spanning four generations of a talented and visionary family, The House of Mondavi is a tale of genius, sibling rivalry, and betrayal. From 1906, when Italian immigrant Cesare Mondavi passed through Ellis Island, to the Robert Mondavi Corp.’s twenty-first-century battle over a billion-dollar fortune, award-winning journalist Julia Flynn brings to life both the place and the people in this riveting family drama. The blood feuds are as spectacular as the business triumphs. Cesare’s sons, Robert and Peter, literally came to blows in the 1960s during a dispute touched off by the purchase of a mink coat, resulting in Robert’s exile from the family—and his subsequent founding of a winery that would set off a revolution in American winemaking. Robert’s sons, Michael and Timothy, as passionate in their own ways as their visionary father, waged battle with each other for control of the company before Michael’s expansive ambitions ultimately led to a board coup and the sale of the business to an international conglomerate. A meticulously reported narrative based on thousands of hours of interviews, The House of Mondavi is bound to become a classic.

Shelfari edited the contributors of The House of Mondavi: The Rise and Fall of an American Wine Dynasty Thursday, July 23 2009.

• Added a contributor: Julia Flynn Siler: (Primary Author)

Shelfari edited the first sentence of The House of Mondavi: The Rise and Fall of an American Wine Dynasty Friday, July 17 2009.

• In February of 1906, a quiet twenty-three-year-old Italian named Cesare Mondavi climbed aboard a steamer moored in Antwerp called the Vaderland.