About this title: An epic, scandal-plagued story of the immigrant family that built--and then spectacularly lost--a global wine empire. Award-winning journalist Flynn Siler brings to life both the place and the people in this riveting family drama.
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Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Gotham Books
Date Published: 07/2007
ISBN-13:9781592402595ISBN:1592402593
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. Very Good, In very good dust jacket. Sewn binding. Paper over boards. With dust jacket. 452 p. Contains: Illustrations. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Gotham Books
Date Published: 07/2007
ISBN-13:9781592402595ISBN:1592402593
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. Very Good, In very good dust jacket. Sewn binding. Paper over boards. With dust jacket. 452 p. Contains: Illustrations. read more
Description: Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. 1592402593 Former library item may have library binding and show stamps, stickers or other marks. Items not meeting quality expectations may be returned. Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. read more
Description: Good. 1592402593 Former library item may have library binding and show stamps, stickers or other marks. Items not meeting quality expectations may be returned. Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. read more
Description: Good. 1592403670 26144 PB: spine creased, text appears clean, cover has light shelf wear-allow up to 21 business days for standard USPS media m ai l. wt2lbpf. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Gotham
Date Published: 2008-05-01
ISBN-13:9781592403677ISBN:1592403670
Description: Very Good. Clean pages, no spine creases, no writing, no corner creases, minor shelf-wear to cover, some moisture ripples on bottom up to page 88. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Gotham Books
Date Published: 2007
ISBN-13:9781592402595ISBN:1592402593
Description: New in new dust jacket. Sewn binding. Paper over boards. With dust jacket. 452 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Gotham
Date Published: 2008-05-01
ISBN-13:9781592403677ISBN:1592403670
Description: Like New. 2008 paperback, 1ST PRINTING WITH FULL NUMBER LINE, NO MARKS noted in text, All of our products are cleaned with an disinfectant for your protection before shipping. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Gotham
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9781592403677ISBN:1592403670
Description: New. Brand New! Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
"30 of 31 people found the following review helpful: A history of the Mondavi wine empire, July 1, 2007
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?) This is a terrific history of the Mondavi family and the rise and fall of its wine empire. Family infighting and unwise business decisions and a dash of bad luck are part and parcel of this story. The author, Julia Flynn Siler, writes in a spellbinding manner. The approach and theme (page ix): "Over a period of two and a half years, the author interviewed all of the principle family members involved in the events leading to the sale of Robert Mondavi Corporation, seeking to understand how and why a seemingly "takeover proof" family-controlled company was sold over the objections of several key family members."
The book takes us through four generations of the family. There at the beginning: Cesare and Rosa Mondavi (there is a useful genealogy on the inside of the cover page). The book describes their journey to California and the start of the family wine business.
The book is divided into four parts--Foundation, Construction, Expansion, and the lugubrious finale, Demolition.
Key themes: family infighting. Cesare's two sons, Robert and Peter had a major falling out, with Peter winning the family battle and ousting him from the family business. The father had sought a single condition when he began the purchase of the Charles Krug Winery--(page 23): "Robert and Peter must work together to build the business." The promise failed.
After he left Charles Krug, Robert Mondavi engaged in a legal scorched earth policy against his brother and mother (who sided with Peter). The end result? Robert won and the rest of the family, in essence, lost. This sad story is told engagingly and leaves one scratching one's head as to what could have accounted for a family meltdown.
Robert began his own wine business and brought his sons and daughter into key positions. Over time, he acquired other businesses and the venture expanded. However, eerily reminiscent of his own family falling out, his two sons had serious tensions between them, with very different visions of where the company should go.
Interesting vignettes: the joint venture with the legendary Baron Philippe de Rothschild and his wife, who took aver the reins after the Baron's death, Baroness Philippine de Rothschild.
The book itself reads almost like a Greek tragedy, where the reader can see all the fault lines and can see disaster looming; however, the characters themselves as they lived their lives were unable to control events.
This is a well written book that brings one into the world of winemaking and one family's successes and failures."
"Good book, great piece of journalism, but for the general reader WAY too much of a good thing. About 1/3 of the way through, I was ready for the story to start wrapping up. It transitions from family drama to corporate drama and includes way too much detail to stay vibrant over the length of this book. As a result, in its full length it is probably only of serious interest to people with HUGE amounts of buy-in to the Mondavi story. Fascinating story but... just too, too much of a good thing."
"A fascinating view of the Mondavi Wine dynasty--from Cesare, coming from Italy will little money or skills, the discovery of sleepy little Napa Valley, and then all hell breaks lose as the two sons (he also had 2 daughters) go to war over the inherited business. Even worse, Mama sides with one son and cuts the other out. The animosity and family wars pour over into the next generation. Dynasty has nothing on this family."
"I love wine. I love Mondavi wine. All their labels, for the money you can't get much better. The story of the first great American wine family reads like a Greek soap opera. The age old truth about family and business hold true is this tail. It's all there greed, betrayal, sex, and more.
I feel like this was a well researched book, that the family may or may not love. The author did an excellent job of not taking sides in the family's battles. She was able to shoe where both sides were wrong, and how this caused the course of events. I wonderful biography of a family and its business."
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