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

~ (Author) "In February of 1906, a quiet twenty-three-year-old Italian named Cesare Mondavi climbed aboard a steamer moored in Antwerp called the Vaderland..." (more)
Key Phrases: deer camp, charity wine auction, new winery, Napa Valley, Charles Krug, Robert Mondavi Winery (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Call it Greek tragedy or Shakespearean drama, Biblical strife, Freudian acting out, or even soap opera. . . . Compelling.”
—Eric Asimov, The New York Times

“A fascinating chronicle . . . a twisted tale filled with big egos, beautiful backdrops, and charismatic-yet-flawed characters who pull off towering feats and then throw them all away.”
—Business Week

“A first-rate job of creating a balanced view of this epic A merican drama. . . . T he book reads like a novel and her crisp style makes the book compelling regardless of whether the reader has an interest in wine. . . . It’s a great summer read but it also belongs on the reference shelf of any wine library.”
—Seattle Post –Intelligencer

“Explores the Mondavis’ bumpy journey in grand and fascinating detail. . . . Fluid and well-written.”
—James Laube , Wine Spectator

“Epic” —U.S. News & World Report

“A riveting story that is part soap opera, part Shakespearean family drama.”
—NPR’s Day to Day

“Based on exhaustive research and interviews, each page is packed with facts and footnotes which, by dint of superb writing, manage to engage the reader and avoid the data brain-lock that would have plagued a less-talented journalist.”
—Barron’s --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Description

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.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 464 pages
• Publisher: Gotham (June 19, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592402593
• ISBN-13: 978-1592402595
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (69 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #201,949 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

59 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reds, Whites...and Blue, June 23, 2007

By	Thomas M. Loarie (Danville, CA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

I had an opportunity to meet Robert Mondavi in 1995 at his Napa vineyard during one the famed "Summer Concerts in the Vineyard." We had a shared interest since we were both involved in IPOs (Initial Public Offerings) managed by Goldman Sachs. He took the family business, Robert Mondavi Corp., public in 1993 and I was taking a life science business, KeraVision, Inc., public in 1995. Mondavi impressed me then as an American gem - hard working, visionary, entrepreneurial, humble and generous.

Julia Flynn Siler's "House of Mondavi" chronicles the life of this American gem, how he changed the wine industry in America and how his generosity caused him to lose control of a his company during the turbulent early 2000s. Generosity, not greed, brought the downfall - an outlier in a period when greed was the headline story.

After being banished from the family in 1965, Robert, the son of an Italian peasant, started over with virtually nothing and built the biggest name in the American wine industry. His wines took their place proudly with the world's finest.

His generosity with major gifts, including the largest single gift of $35 million (in pledged stock) to the University of California at Davis for a cultural center, put him in harm's way when the Mondavi share price plummeted. A board coup followed with Mondavi Chairman, and former Mckinsey & Co. partner, Ted Hall, firing Mondavi's son, Michael, and putting an end to the dual class ownership of the company's stock...and a loss of control by the Mondavi family.

The book also sheds light on the fragility of family succession and control in even the most established of enterprises - and how botched transfers of power from one generation to another caused conflicts that separated the family from its legacy. Running any family business is notoriously troublesome and very few ever make it into the fifth generation. This one did not as the public spotlight on Michael Mondavi's performance in a time of crisis (a general collapse of wine prices)weighed heavily in the final outcome.

Julia Flynn Siler has written a tight, well researched book that will keep most readers turning each page - particularly those interested in behind the scenes business stories, entrepreneurs, large family-run businesses, Napa Valley and its wine industry, and/or Robert Mondavi the person.

The story does not end with the loss of control as there is a silver lining which saved the Mondavi family from financial ruin. I will leave that and other details of the Mondavi chronicles for the reader to learn first hand.

37 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Phenomenal, but..., July 8, 2007

By	KCE (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews

I just finished the book after a few days of intense reading and I loved it. This is a great read whether you're a wine enthusiast, a Napa lover or a student of American business. The book is well-researched and fair to all parties involved, even though I imagine it must have been tremendously difficult to be impartial at times.

One minor criticism, though, that kept this from being a 5 star book - what is with all the typos? About a 1/3 of the way through the book, I started keeping track of the mistakes and found more than 25 misspellings, typos, missing words, missing punctuation marks, etc. The book is packaged beautifully and the story is great, so why not hire someone to do some basic copy editing? At points, I was almost embarrassed for Ms. Siler, and I hope future editions correct some of the errors. They don't take away from the read, but they certainly distracted me.

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A history of the Mondavi wine empire, July 1, 2007

By	Steven A. Peterson (Hershey, PA (Born in Kewanee, IL)) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

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.